R E D
by thatwannabeauthor
Summary: " this plan of yours is going to get us killed... of course i'm in! " { Extended Summary Inside }
1. PROLOGUE

― ❈ ―

**'How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.'**

― ❈ ―

The tears of the heaven pelted from the angry grey sky above like bullets. The deep sound of thunder traveled through the ears of the bustling pirates aboard the Red Force. The Red Haired Pirates were scattered throughout all parts of the swaying ship, attempting to gain control of the boat. The group of companions endeavored mightily to wrestle the turbulent waves of the salty ocean conveying them. Shouts of urgency were detectable from all locations but the intense overpowering sound of the thunderstorm masked their bawling.

A group of three adults had shut themselves in a room, the tension that filled the space was smothering. Despite the disarray taking place, the three appeared as if they were in a different location as their minds were focused a greater matter than the downpour.

"This is one of the worst storms the sea had ever gotten. Are you sure you can get back safely? Maybe you should wait," Shanks, the captain of the nosy ship, spoke, his voice laced with obvious concern. He ran a hand against his youthful face, the bags under his eyes were an affirmation for his nights spent awake caring for his newborn child and ill wife.

Another voice, clear yet stern, spoke and gained the red-heads attention.

"We must leave straightaway. We don't have time to spare. Cease your worry _pirate_, Elise and I will be peregrinating via gateway." the female words were curt and her distaste for the red head was evident in her voice and the way she called him 'pirate' like it was some disease, despite the cryptic woman being aware of his name.

A vicious wave slammed into the side of the large boat causing those on board to lose balance. The mysterious female clutched the nearest object in the bedroom for support. Her face scrunched up with exasperation due to the unpredictable ocean waves. The stormy ocean was a raging bull, and she didn't know what to expect.

The lights inside the spacious room flickered on and off, and by the end of the room laid another female. Elise's chest rose as she inhaled deeply. She would miss the salty smell of the ocean. She released a shaky breath before finally deciding that her body would grant her enough strength to rise. Elise's pained grunt gained Shanks regard as the woman swung her white blanket to the side. The cold air caressed her skin causing goosebumps to arise on her tanned arms. Her long flowing lavender colored hair cascaded down her back as she finally situated herself upwards.

"She's right, I... I-" Elise swallowed, her eyes fluttered shut as a wave of nausea halted her from completing her sentence. The red-haired pirate rushed to her side, supporting her fragile body.

"Come on, Elise, you can barely walk. You don't need to leave," Shanks whispered to Elise, trying to show her how foolish she was to leave in her current condition.

Elise ignored his words, fully aware that her departure was unavoidable. She used the bed frame to guide her upwards. With premature steps, she plodded in the direction of an ivory cradle by the rattling window. A baby with a messy set of red hair was lying in the crib. Its small mouth was parted in an endearing fashion and her chest rose and fell at a steady pace, the newborn slept soundly. How the baby was able to sleep peacefully through the storm will remain a mystery to even her mother.

"Such a heavy sleeper, like your father," Elise laughed dryly, gently picking up the infant and cradling the bundle of joy in her arms. Elise studied her baby, memorizing the curve of her nose and the faint freckles scattered on her chubby cheeks and the vibrant strands of red hair that grew from the infants head. Tears blurred Elise's vision at the thought of leaving her baby so young. It had only been a few months since she had given birth to her, yet, the baby had grown so much. Though, Elise wouldn't be there to see her child say her first word, walk or be able to converse with other mothers with children and boast about how well her child was doing with her studies. There were so many milestones and in a child's life as they grew older, and it ripped Elise's heart to pieces that she would not be there in person to see her child mature.

Elise caressed the baby's golden brown skin and pushed a strand of red hair from her forehead.

_'But this is a sacrifice I am willing to make to keep you safe,'_ Elise thought unshakably.

"When you seek power most and your resolve is iron strong, is when this seal shall break. Until then, you will live your life as you wish."

A rune like symbol, glowing a golden yellow, appeared over the forehead of the child. A soft moan escaped the infant, as the rune symbol disappeared. Elise bit the bottom of her lip, attempting to keep her tears at bay. "Remember, my love for you is unconditional. You are my heart, my entire being. I promise we will meet again my dear Adelais," Elise lovingly whispered to her child, her heart breaking the longer she held her baby.

It seemed as though Shanks and the other female (who bore a similar resemblance to Elise) were in the midst of a conversation. However, it soon ended as Elise turned and walked towards Shanks with their child in her arms.

"Take care of our daughter Shanks, from the little things she does, I can already tell she's going to grow up and become as reckless as you are." Elise announced half serious, half humorous. Shanks chuckled shamelessly as he took the child from Elise's thin arms.

A knock was heard at the door before it was opened harshly. Standing at the threshold of the door were the long time companions of Red-Haired Shanks. Benn Beckman, a strong looking man with light blue hair; Lucky Roo, a larger man wearing green striped shirt, and Yasopp, a tan man with dreadlocks. The trio were wet from the storm, their faces expose their clear worry and distress.

"You guys-!" Shanks eyes widened.

"Elise you're leaving?!" Lucky Roo asked urgently.

"How'd you find that out?" Shanks questioned as he quickly put the infant in its crib, then turning towards his best friends.

"Shanks, you can't keep shit from us. We're your closest friends, we'll find out eventually," Yasopp said as if it were a fact, which it was.

Shanks could understand their concern, and he agreed, he couldn't keep a secret from them three specially. But for them to come right now, when he only had a few more minutes with the woman he adored; the timing couldn't have been worse.

As Shanks racked his mind for an excuse or explanation, Elise calmly strolled to Shanks and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"My dear friends, it appears as though I need to return home, I have some things to clear up. Nothing to major though. Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it." Elise stated calmly, flashing them one of her award-winning smiles. If they knew the truth, what she said could have been considered as one of the biggest understatement of the century.

Shocked expressions appeared on the faces of Shanks crew-mates when they heard the word 'home' exit Elise's mouth, but they were quickly replaced with grins. They seemed pleased with her words.

It always amazed Shanks how Elise could make the most distressful person feel comfort. Her words and her smile could put anyone at ease.

"Really? God, I was real worried for a second. But if you say it's okay then I know it is," Lucky Roo expressed, "we have to get going though, this storm is causing us some trouble."

Benn Beckman nodded. "Have a safe trip Elise, we'll see you when you get back." He waved with a small grin before exiting with his crew-mates.

"You! Go help the others at the port!" Yasopp's yell could be heard from outside of Shanks bedroom. A sharp 'yes, sir!' came from one of the Cabin Boys.

A deep sigh left Shanks lips as he turned towards a corner of his bedroom.

"You can come out now," Shanks ushered the hiding woman out.

The mysterious woman from earlier emerged from the darkness, there was a stern look on her face as her attention was directed towards Elise. She was about to say something before Elise cut her to the chase.

"I know, I know, 'We have to leave immediately'," Elise quoted the woman with a roll of her eyes, her accent switching momentarily. "Open the gateway while I grab a few things." The mysterious woman gave a nod before doing as told.

Elise walked towards her dresser, grabbing a few articles of clothing.

"I would advise you to leave your _human_ clothing here. Father would be curious as to were you got them and then the lie I," the woman stressed the 'I' part, "had to keep up with all these years, would be exposed."

Exasperated, Elise put back her 'human clothing' and walked towards her picture frames and valuables then put them in a brown bag she grabbed.

"Gateway: Opened." The woman clapped, satisfied. By the corner of the room a portal was made, a field looked to be on the other side. Grey clouds floating in front of a black sky could be seen above the field, telling the girls it was midnight where this field was located.

Elise approached Shanks. Although the male tried with every fiber in his body to keep it in, tears prickled the brim of his eyes.

"Shanks, you reckless, idiotic, fool." Elise began, crossing her arms with a sigh.

Shanks stared at Elise for a moment, bewildered. He thought that his last few moments with his wife would be a bit more sentimental, but seemed like no matter the situation, Elise would still be Elise.

"But!" Elise paused with a finger in front of his face. "Through all of these years that I've known you, I've grown to love your reckless, idiotic, and foolish behavior," Elise grinned, "I never saw myself marrying a guy like you, firstly, because you're a human, and secondly, were practically polar opposites. But I guess the saying opposites do attract is true in our case. You've made the years I've been here very fun. You made me come out of my comfort zone and experience things I would never have even thought of, and I thank you for that," Elise cupped her husbands face and stared at him with a loving gaze. "I love you so much, words could not even begin to explain," she whispered, "Take care of our little girl, okay?"

Shanks head fell and his hands formed fist as tears welled up in his eyes. God, he couldn't even imagine how much he would miss her presence everyday. It hurt physically to see her go. Elise let the tears flow freely down her tan cheeks.

"Till we meet again my love."

With the chilling thunderstorm and the appearance of the reflecting moon; Elise vanished.

* * *

**― ❈ ―**

**AUTHORS NOTE: **

**HI! My name is Sunny and this is the prologue to my One Piece Fic. I'm very new to this site and this is my first published fic on here, but I do have experience writing fan-fiction, lol. I don't have much to say but please feel free to comment. I want to improve my writing, which is the main reason I started writing Fics so please leave constructive criczim and all that jazz. Anyways, that really all I have to say. I hope y'all enjoy "RED".**


	2. WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (EXTENDED SUMMARY)

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE**

* * *

**WANTED**

_BLOODY ALICE, THE SOLO PIRATE_

**REASON**

_PIRACY_

**BOUNTY**

_230,000,000 BERRIES_

**GENDER**

_FEMALE_

**APPEARANCE**

_RED SHORT HAIR, _

_TAN SKIN, _

_LEAN,_

_5 FEET 4 INCHES IN HEIGHT, _

_ONE-HUNDRED-SIXTEEN POUNDS,_

_MASCULINE._

**DEVIL FRUIT/NOTABLE ABILITIES**

_BEARER OF THE BLOOD-BLOOD FRUIT,_

_BLOOD CAN BE MANIPULATED INTO SIMPLE INANIMATE OBJECTS,_

_BLOOD CAN BE TURNED INTO A CORROSIVE IF WANTED._

**INSIGHT**

_Bloody Alice, the Solo Pirate, with a simple utter of this female's name you could have people running for the hills._

_Infamously known throughout the waters for her high intelligence and fascinating Devil Fruit, the rookie has earned quite the reputation and she's only been a pirate for arguably two years. _

_The redhead was virtually born and nurtured into the life of piracy. Bearing in mind who her father is, her choosing another path besides piracy would be far too problematic. _

_Red Haired Shanks—one of the Four Emperors—is the father to this ill-bred teen. _

_The Solo Pirate travels the waters by jumping from ship to ship and is volatile._

* * *

**IF SPOTTED, CONTACT THE MARINES IMMEDIATELY AND AVOID HER AT ALL COST. FOR SHE IS A WANTED PERSON FOR A REASON.**


	3. C h a p t e r O n e

**'The only thing sweeter than union is reunion.'**

* * *

**RED**; the single most dynamic and passionate color. Symbolizing rage, courage, and passion. Generally speaking, red was such an interesting color to correlate with emotions, for the reason that it could be used to describe feelings on both ends of the spectrum. On one hand, red was related with emotions such as enthusiasm, love, infatuation, and so forth, whilst on the contrary the shade of pink was associated with rage, danger, fear and other hostile adjectives. Nonetheless, the color red demanded to be heard and without effort it attracted the most attention. The color red: stimulating, vibrant, and exciting.

People often surmise that their favorite color was analogized to one's character and personality. If that connection was truly factual, Alice would be the human embodiment of the color red.

From the scarlet tresses that framed her heart shaped face, down to the ruby nail polish that permanently painted her finger nails. Alice was passionate, courageous, and most of all, unpredictable.

Alice was red.

With an impressive bounty of two-hundred-thirty million belly, her alias, Bloody Alice, garnered much attention throughout the waters. Although Alice herself detested the unpleasant title, the teen couldn't deny that the word was a reasonable label to put before her red-head earned her alias because of her Devil Fruit — the Blood-Blood Fruit — and the state of which she left the poor souls who dared to challenge her; bloody, bruised, and battered.

At a particular time of day, a rusty boat was following the course of the ocean waves as it drifted pleasantly through the expansive body of water that was the Grand Line. The pungent yet enduring aroma of seaweed and saltwater hung in the air and a cool breeze caused the boats mainsail to flap against the wind like laundry drying out in the sun on a windy day.

Portgas D Ace stood at the exterior of his personal ship, studying the vast landscape of water with knitted brows. The freckled juvenile released a skeptical hum as he glanced downwards at the compass in his grasp and the map that laid on the boats white railing.

_'Maybe we're lost?'_ Ace questioned with dubiety, his sub-par navigation skills the cause of his wariness. The black-haired boys shoulders slumped and he released a sigh of defeat.

Ace had been travelling the waters on business for a few months at that point but neither Ace nor his companion were skilled in the division of navigation. They managed for the first two months at sea but soon they came to the realization that their basic knowledge of helmsman-ship would not suffice after experiencing firsthand the severity of a thunderstorm at sea. The merciless thunderstorm which darkened the sky a depressing shade of grey and disrupting the calm waves of the sea by striking it with lightning, may have, from Ace's hypothesis, strayed their boat off course and inevitably, backtracked their already tiresome voyage.

_'Damn that Blackbeard,'_ Ace cursed in irritation, tightening his grip on the map as he pictured the large mans face. The sound of the tanned males irksome guffawing played in Ace's mind like a broken record. If it weren't for the sinful actions of Blackbeard, Ace wouldn't be in his current predicament in the midst of silently mourning the loss of a dear comrade, but instead, enjoying the presence of his best friend, Alice, while roaming the ocean doing what pirates did during their everyday lives.

A few months prior, Marshall D Teach, commonly known as Blackbeard, had committed the greatest transgression any pirate belonging to a pirate crew could perpetrate. Blackbeard, with a mind clouded with greed and avarice, murdered the fourth division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Thatch, to obtain the Devil Fruit, the Dark-Dark Fruit.

The homicide earned itself a spot on every newspaper front page and reached the ears of all, pirates and civilians alike. Though, that was expected. Whitebeard was regarded as a notorious pirate. Almost every member of his crew were infamously known for their overwhelming strength, most having made their own individual impact in the world of pirates.

After Blackbeared fled the Moby Dick (The Whitebeard Pirates boat), Ace took it upon himself as Commander of the Second Division and Blackbeareds former superior, to search the waters for traitorous man and accost him for his despicable action of killing a friend and comrade.

Alice, having been sailing with Whitebeard when the homicide took place was enraged when she discovered what had happened. The red-head and Blackbeard were well acquainted, as Alice considered the crew mates of Whitebeard as her own family, (despite her not officially being apart of the infamous pirate group due to her title as a solo pirate) and the feeling was mutual among Whitebeard and his men. Thus, Alice joined her best friend on his search for the gaped tooth male.

Ace and Alice had gotten word that a man by the name of Scorpion had defeated Blackbeared in the Kingdom of Alabasta - a desert kingdom roughly halfway through the first part of the Grand Line. With that information, the two childhood friends directed their helm in the direction of Alabasta. At least, that was before the thunderstorm supposedly strayed them off their path.

Ace rounded and faced the door that led to the hall of rooms at the back of the ship. "Red, you should come out and enjoy the weather! The sun is finally out!" He shouted behind his shoulder. Trying to find out their current location on the map was starting to give him a headache. Ace thought if he could trick Alice into coming out of the office room (although it was more like her personal science lab at that point) they could put their minds together and find out where on the Grand Line they were located.

"I know you like the back of my hand, Freckles! If I navigate, I'll end up sailing us off a cliff," Alice voiced in amusement, her husky yet attractive tone clearly distinguishable as she spoke. A smile tugged the corners of Ace's lips as he noted the nickname she called him, not having heard it come from her mouth in an entire week.

"But there are no cliffs. We're at open sea?"

"Exactly!"

Ace shook his head and chuckled. During Ace's and Alice's voyage, there was never a dull moment. Both Alice and Ace were comical people (even though Ace was a pretty chill person, the things he did unintentionally had Alice rolling with laughter) and ever since Alice was a child and the two pirates lived in Foosha Villiage, Alice had the ability to humor anyone around her and ease peoples nerves with just her words alone. Alice was a notorious prankster and an overall cheerful and buoyant person. Though, there were only a select few who were able to pass Alice's many layers and witness the true personality of the red-head. To other pirates, Alice was a human Rubik's cube. None could predict or fully understand Alice because she often persevered a facade of an arcane person around others.

Alice vouched for the fact that her mysterious demeanor was an advantage, but Ace had to disagree. Living behind a mask wasn't worth the exhaustion and discomfort, Ace knew that from firsthand experience.

A few moments of silence passed and Ace basked in the reassuring swash of the water as the ship glided smoothly. But his few moments of tranquility were disrupted by a obnoxious chortle coming from the back of the ship.

Ace's head fell. He knew _exactly_ what that laugh meant._ 'Alice completed another experiment,'_ the male thought, not knowing if he should be happy or solemn.

Alice had been stuck in the ships office for a complete week working on a variety of different experiments. Ace knew that it was only a matter of time before she would come bursting out of the office and onto the ships hull begging Ace to try whatever concoction she produced, and Ace knew he would in the end — even if he objected — give in to her please. Ace couldn't say no to Alice, especially when her violet eyes would water the slightest bit and she would stick out her bottom lip in a pout when he would protest. Alice was a master at guilt tripping and Ace always seemed to fall for it each time.

At the tender age of five, when Alice presented her dad with a working and talking robot, she was regarded as a genius. As she grew she showcased her extensive knowledge in various fields of education. Infamously known throughout the New World and beyond for her brilliance and erudition, Alice had planted her flag in the world of science and proved that she would most definitely climb to the top.

As Ace foreshadowed, not even a minute later, the door at the back of the ship flew open with a bang.

"Ace!" Alice called, with a beaming smile that showed all of her pearly whites. Ace could physically feel the excitement waving off of Alice from where he stood at the front of the boat.

Alice's eyes were protected by safety goggles and were wide with elation. The suns rays shined down upon Earth vehemently and Alice's red hair looked as if it was on fire as it reflected the radiance of the sun. Her tan skin contrasted the pale color of her worn out lab coat, and grasped in her gloved hands was a glass test tube containing a mysterious liquid.

"Another successful experiment?" Ace asked, not even attempting to mask the change in his expression from boredom and frustration to pure delight upon Alice's appearance. He didn't even realize how much he wished for her to return back to his side during the entire week. She had disregarded his existence to concentrate on her work and he missed her presence dearly.

Alice tread with a skip in Ace's direction, their clear difference in height becoming more evident as she neared.

"Well, we'll find out once you drink it, right?" said Alice, batting her long dark eyelashes sweetly and nudging the test tube in Ace's hands. Ace returned her suggestive expression with a pointed look, and when they met eyes, Alice's dejected gaze fell.

Ace sighed to himself as her puppy dog eyes tugged at his heartstrings. "Fine."

Alice beamed as Ace gave in and snatched the liquid from her hands. The tube was filled with a dark purple liquid Ace inspected. Even with the tube held in front of the sun, the substance was completely opaque. Ace tipped his head back and ingested the liquid. The males face twisted in disgust at the overly sweet taste left on his tongue.

Alice crossed her arms and waited for the chemical concoction to take effect. At that moment, she indeed looked like the mad scientist people rumored her to be.

Ace lifted a single brow as his nails grew at least twenty centimeters in length. His face remained nonchalant and not even a spark of shock was detectable in his dark eyes. He had experienced worse results after drinking one of Alice's chemical mixtures. Ace would take abnormally long fingernails then his nose inflating eight times its normal size (which had actually happened once in the past) any day.

Alice deflated and released a huff of dissatisfaction.

Ace glanced at the red-head. "What? Was this not supposed to happen?"

Alice tilted her head to the side and chewed on the bottom of her lip in thought. "To be honest... you were supposed to explode into a couple of million pieces spontaneously," The nineteen-year-old admitted under her breath, taking the glass tube from a rigid Ace. Alice examined the bottle with narrowed eyes, smelt it, then pondered. Ace watched her actions in exasperation.

"Excuse me?" Ace's eye twitched with annoyance due to the girls indifferent expression and the overly casual way she admitted that the liquid was intended to blow him up. Matter of fact, the girl sounded as if she were disappointed with the results.

"Maybe I didn't put enough cress?" Alice thought out loud, ignoring her friend.

"Don't ignore me, Red!" Ace barked.

Alice chuckled and looked at Ace then patted his head comfortingly. "Don't worry, I'm only joking."

Ace visibly relaxed.

Alice pursed her lips and glanced downwards sheepishly. "... You were supposed to grow a hairy rat tail instead," she said quickly.

"Alice!"

Alice held her hands up in surrender, catching Ace's fiery look. "Okay, relax Freckles! I'm just playing with you." Alice searched around herself with pursed lips for a while before shrugging and placing the tube in her coat pocket. "That was supposed to happen." She motioned at his nails with a flick of her wrist.

Ace eyed her suspiciously, not fully believing her words but when she sent him a genuine smile, he relaxed and returned to his usual cool demeanor.

"You can't cut you nails because they'll only grow longer in response so I'll whip you up an antidote," said Alice, but halfway through her sentence the girl extended her neck and stood on her tippy toes, her attention placed on something behind Ace. "Oh look, I think I see land." She pointed.

Ace rounded, spotting an irregular black dot in the distance. He walked towards the map and his compass and studied the navigation tools.

"Looks like we didn't stray off course like I thought."

Alice removed her goggles from her face, rubbing the red outline it left as she leaned against the ships railing. "Ace," she called.

"Yeah?"

"I got word that Luffy and his pirate crew were spotted in Alabasta. "

Ace swiveled and faced the red-head, the name of his brother garnering all of his attention. "From who?"

Alice smirked with a twinkle in her eyes that often made people think that she knew things no one else did or more than she was letting on. Which was often true. "My friend in the Marines informed me via Den-Den Mushi." Because the red-head was a solo pirate and quite the socialite the teen had handfuls of 'friends' and acquaintances in all different types of areas and social status', so Ace wasn't surprised to hear that she had a friend even in the Marines.

_'He must be a spy of some sort,'_ Ace thought. Alice always told Ace that she had ears everywhere and he didn't doubt that the slightest bit.

"Really?" Ace crossed his arms over his chest, his overly long nails making it a challenge. "This trip has gotten interesting."

Alice nodded in agreement, throwing her head back to observe the cloudless azure sky. She spent so much time cooped up in her office that she grew to miss the salty smell of the sea. "Looks like we'll be having a family reunion sooner than I thought."

Family was like branches on a tree; they all grow in different directions, yet their roots remained as one. Unbeknownst to Ace, Alice, and Luffy, their first reunion was to be their last of pleasant run-ins at sea.


	4. C h a p t e r T w o

― ❈ ―

**'To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.'**

― ❈ ―

**GRAINS** of sand gently floated in the humid air in front of a cerulean colored sky. The marketplace was booming with chatter, even with the sun rays intensely shining down upon Alabasta. The emporium was at its busiest time that summer morning. Pedestrians crowded the market struggling to walk through the narrow streets as stand owners shouted out into the crowd their lowest deals and the premium quality of the items they sought to vend.

Standing in the middle of the restricted street with an tenor exuding ascendancy and enigma, Alice crossed her arms over her fairly flat chest whilst pinching the bottom of her plump rosy lip with her painted nails. Alice released a deep breath as people attempted — with struggle — to maneuver around her, as if frightened that if they were to bump into her while they strolled she would pounce on them.

Alice felt slightly awkward as people eyed her as if she would impale them with a sword if they so even meet eyes with the girl. Alice experience similar instances wherever she went. Ace told her people were scared of the petite red-head because of her sharp gaze and the attitude she gave off. Alice could never understand why though, she thought she was rather friendly to strangers and she often tried to smile kindly to remove the daunting look in her eyes, but in the end, it only enhanced her intimidating aura.

Alice's Chelsea boots emitted a clack as the heel met the sandy stone street as she tread in no particular direction. Similar to how Moses parted the sea, Alice found herself walking with ease as civilians intentionally moved out of the red-heads way.

Alice shrugged at their reaction with indifference, _'At least it'll be easier to find Ace now,' _she thought in attempt to sooth herself. _'Now, time for a game of where's Freckles?' _Alice eyed the market place around her for the familiar figure of her childhood friend.

Prior to Alice's unintended and accidental departure from Ace, the two friends where nonchalantly roaming the streets of Alabasta in search of their best friend, Luffy, whom Alice was informed to be spotted in Alabasta by her mysterious Marine friend.

The two asked around if anyone had seen their rambunctious friend, though, the people they questioned seemed to be unaware of who and where Luffy was.

The pair continued to ask around until Alice became distracted by the adorable sight of a dog with snow white fur in an alleyway.

For better understanding, something to note about Alice was her horrendous sense of direction. Although, Alice herself would never admit or confess to her Directional Dyslexia due to her sensibility over the subject which broached her insecurities.

Compelled to approach the animal due to its cuteness, Alice separated from her friend to pet the dog and gush at its daintiness.

Thus, when Alice exited the alleyway, her friend was no where to be seen.

_'All because of that damned dog! Why did it have to be so cute?!'_ Alice huffed with a scowl, but when she pictured the white dog in her mind she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering.

A child dashed through the marketplace, humming excitedly with his arms extended as if he were pretending to be some sort of air craft. The heat wasn't even a concern for the young Alabasta native. The child's cheeks were flushed a deep vermilion as he navigated himself to avoid bumping into the numerous customers of the market. The child nearly steered clear of crashing into another body, however, due to the swift action the little boy lost his footing. The child gasped in alarm as his back collided into another person's side. The two people teetered, fighting to stay balanced, before falling onto the sandy stone road.

A painful groan escaped the adolescent as his elbow crashed onto the solid ground. The other body also exclaimed in puzzlement.

"Geez kid, you weigh a ton!" Alice expressed breathlessly as she attempted to push the child off her lap, her face contouring into discomfort at the weight holding her small body down.

The boys brown eyes widen as realization dawned his face. The plump boy was certain that if his mother had witnessed what had occurred she would have scolded him for his impolite and embarrassing action. The tanned boy hastily rose from his place on top of Alice. He adjusted his head wrap and lightly swept his hands over his clearly expensive robes to remove any dirt that may have got on his clothes from the fall. The young boy ignored the throbbing pain in his elbow and cleared his throat as he motioned to apologize to the person he bumped into.

The boys words died in his throat as his gaze fell onto the victim of his recklessness, his mouth parting in amazement. Another action he knew would earn him a slap to the head from his mother, but how could the boy mask his awe? In the boys fifteen-years of living, he had never come across such a vibrant and stimulating shade of red, and to add to that, the color was the tone of someones hair. He was entranced by the sight.

Alice arose from the ground, rubbing her sore bottom with a frown. The red-head's piercing violet eyes studied the boy who stood in front of her who appeared to be almost hypnotized. Alice eyes narrowed with confusion.

_'What's his deal?'_ She asked mentally, then came to the realization that he wasn't exactly staring at her, but intensely staring at the red locks that framed her face.

Alice nodded with a knowing look in her eyes. "Yeah, I get that a lot. My hair is my most prominent feature," stated Alice with a sigh as she pulled open the zipper of her black sling bag that rested over her chest diagonally.

The boy blinked rapidly, his cheeks almost becoming as red as Alice's hair once he realized he was staring for an odd amount of time. He quickly directed his gaze elsewhere.

From her small sling bag, Alice pulled out a plastic wrapped red lollipop. The girl twirled it around, laughing as she saw the blush dusted on the boys cheeks. She patted his head comfortingly before handing him the lollipop. The boy hesitantly accepted the sweet.

_'What an adorable kid!'_ Alice gushed, but despite that, her facial expression remained composed.

"Watch where you're going next time kid. If you suck on this lollipop it should heal whatever pain your elbow endured. See ya' around."

Alice placed her hands in her black jeans pocket, though, because of the tightness of her jeans, Alice was forced to put her hands into the pockets of the white lab coat she constantly wore.

The boy watched Alice's back stroll further away from him, puzzled that she even knew he hit his elbow on the ground when they fell. The brown eyed boy mentally scolded himself, then sighed.

"I didn't get to apologize."

― ❈ ―

It took Alice half an hour before she caught sight of her companion because of the bustling market.

Black freckles were scattered around Ace's cheeks and on the bridge of his nose, his usual honey complexion gradually bronzing due to the desert climate of Alabasta. His only protection from the ball of fire that shined brightly in the clear sky was his dear orange hat as he stood in front of a market stand displaying a variety of jewelry that glinted under the beam of the sun.

Alice's smile resembled Cheshire Cat's from Alice in Wonderland (how ironic), her violet hues twinkled with mischief. The girl creeped up behind Ace, attentive to hide her presence which came with ease due to how crowded the market was.

Alice pounced on the male but like most times, his reflexes and sensory skills were quick to become aware of Alice's attack. Ace rounded with a knowing grin as he caught the red-head in an embrace.

Alice huffed with annoyance as she laid in Ace's muscular arms.

"Did you happen to drink some type of potion that made you invulnerable to my pranks, Freckles?" Alice pouted. She tried to leave his arms but Ace only tightened his grip on the girl and rested his chin on her head which laid against his bare chest.

Ace noticed Alice's frustrated expression, and he attempted to stifle his laughs. Alice took pride in being able to prank others, after all, she crowned herself the queen of mischief. But with Ace (along with a few others) Alice could never get a reaction out of.

"I'm immune to your childish behavior, Alice," said Ace, a cheeky grin forming on the male's face as he released Alice, to which Alice simply rolled her eyes at.

Alabasta was a sea of sand, Alice took note as she and Ace ambled, the air was thick with humidity; practically suffocating. Alabasta's climate was completely divergent to the weather Alice usually preferred. Alice liked when it was cool outside; when a refreshing breeze occasionally caressed her skin and when she could feel the gentle warmth of the sun — not like in Alabasta where the sun was her enemy and burned the exposed skin on her body.

Alice's curious eyes scanned the many stands and people of Alabasta. The way native citizens of Alabasta were dressed and spoke in a certain dialect was foreign to her, albeit, Alice found their robes and culture beautiful regardless of her ignorance of it.

Alice hummed to herself, pulling down the round hoop zipper of her purple lightweight sweater. Alice let out a short gasp as a hand abruptly shot out in front of her. The red-head followed the arm to its owner, narrowing her violet eyes in annoyance and irritation.

An aged man with a unkempt mane that fell down to his belly button, was the owner of the tanned arm. The man was fashioned in the usual Alabasta robe, with a turban, and the curve of his back was an indication of his permanent hunch.

"Oh, youngster!" his croaky voice called out enthusiastically, "I haven't seen you before!"

Alice arched her brow, running her gaze up and down the elder man. The man had a large grin plastered on his wrinkled face, but Alice could tell by how the corners of his smile kept twitching that his it was forced. Alice wasn't one to judge others by their appearances because she disliked when people formed an opinion about her just by what others have said but Alice couldn't help it at that moment.

Everything about the old man screamed con man.

"Is this your first time in Alabasta? Whaddaya' say, check out this solid gold apple."

Alice couldn't help but release a snort of disbelief at the elder man, who, from his pocket, showcased a clearly spray painted golden apple in his rough hands. Because of Alice's impeccable observational skills, she could even detail the faintest patch of red at the stem belonging to the original skin of the fruit from it not being spray painted properly.

As time elapsed and Alice simply bore her eyes into the old man's head, the old man's lips began to twitch more. Alice leaned in towards the senior, closing the space between them. Due to the old mans hunch, they were face to face as Alice gave him a once over with her Viper like gaze, her aura growing heavier. The old man visibly began to break out into a cold sweat, and it wasn't because of the heat.

"Mister, do I look like a fool to you?" Alice sniggered. One thing Alice did not appreciate was being lied too.

The man's eyes went round as he noticed Alice divert her attention elsewhere and take a step forward. Abruptly, as if he wasn't shaking in his sandals a few moments ago, the old man extended his arm once more, halting the red-head.

"Hold on!" He shouted.

_'Scammers, so persistent,'_ thought Alice, clicking her tongue in annoyance at his desperation.

"But this is an incredible treasure I found in some ancient ruins! It's said one bite of this magic golden apple will let you live one-thousand-years!"

Ancient ruins? Golden apple? One thousand years? Alice was questioning whether or not some people were naive enough to believe any of the old man's words.

"Sorry, we're not interested in living a thousand years," Ace stated with his usual grin. "We just need to live today," Ace finished as he dug his hands into his pocket and began walking once again. "Let's go, Alice."

A groan exited the old man as he stared angrily at the two pirates back. He studied his eyes eagerly into the crowd in search of his next victim. It seemed people weren't as gullible as they used to be and the man hadn't been able to swindle as much people as he wished too.

"Hey, Ace! I was interested in the old mans offer! When's the next time I'll be able to see a gold apple with the ability to grant me one-thousand-years of life!" Alice exclaimed sarcastically, crossing her arms against her chest with feigned irritation.

"Yeah, yeah," Ace mused with a roll of his eyes as Alice's laugh rang into the air.

Ace's eyes traveled around the market place for someone who appeared somewhat credible to question the whereabouts of Luffy.

"Hey, let's ask that lady over there."

Behind a small wooden stand, draped in a collection of vibrant silk cloths was an old woman fashioned in her own lavender colored robes. The woman stared off into space with a stoic expression which made her look wise.

The solo-pirate and Fire-Fist Ace approached the woman.

Ace bent over the stand, offering a warm smile. "Just a quick question. Have you seen this guy?" Ace slid Luffy's wanted poster which depicted the boy waving with a close eyed smile, onto the stand. Alice heart warmed at the picture of her best friend. Alice was itching to see him in person after almost three years of being apart.

The old woman squinted her eyes as she scanned the piece of crinkled paper. "Huh? Monkey D Luffy?" The old woman inquired.

"He might be here in town. Me and my friend Alice here," Ace grinned in Alice's direction, though, Alice simply looked around uninterested. "Have been looking for him for a while now."

The senior hummed in thought with knitted brows then looked up, her stoic expression returning. "Never seen him," the elder woman deadpanned.

Alice sighed, adjusting the tightness of the broken watch on her wrist. "That boy can never stay in one place," Alice mumbled with slight annoyance. Alice wasn't necessarily annoyed at Luffy's inability to settle in one place for more than a couple hours but more so the fact that she and Ace had to walk so much and ask around countless people in search of him. Despite Alice's exceptional physical strength and stamina, Alice was bestowed with the Deadly Sin of Sloth. The red-head rather be cooped up in her laboratory working, then out fighting and wasting valuable energy that could go into the development of her inventions.

"That's Luffy for ya," Ace agreed with a laugh.

"Oh, but if you're looking for someone to ask, at the restaurant up ahead the owner there knows a lot of people," the old woman bobbed her head in the direction of said restaurant.

Alice's eyes lit up like Christmas lights at the mention of food, all laziness leaving her body. Food was third when it came to Alice's favorite things, first being her friends and family and second being Science. Now that the topic of food was on Alice's mind, she noticed the emptiness of her stomach and the fact that it hadn't been filled up since she arrived in Alabasta yesterday evening.

"Much appreciated," Ace nodded in thanks. Alice on the other hand didn't spare the elderly woman a second glance as she immediately began marching in the direction of the restaurant.

"A restaurant, huh? I was just feeling hungry anyways— Alice slow down!" Ace eyes widen as he turned to his side to see that Alice had vanished from her spot, then down the street to see that the girl had begun walking in the direction of the restaurant. Ace chased the red-head after seeing that Alice had took a random sharp turn that could only be justified because of her Directional Dyslexia.

"I can't lose sight of you for one second," Ace grabbed a hold of Alice's hand, interlocking their fingers and strolling in the right direction of the diner.

Alice grinned sheepishly, her cheeks reddening with slight embarrassment.

_'Cute...'_ Ace admired the blushing red-head with a soft gaze. It wasn't often that Alice blushed or showcased her more feminine qualities, but Ace thought of himself lucky to be apart of the small group of people able to catch glimpses of the red-heads hidden sides.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Alice asked bluntly with a tilt of her head. At the sound of her voice Ace broke out of his trance and realized that he had been staring for a little too long.

"Let's go eat! I'll pay this time," Ace dismissed quickly, swinging his and Alice's joined hands cheerfully as he walked. Alice beam returned on its place on her features as she thought about the food that would soon ease her growing hunger.

"That's good. I wasn't planning to pay anyways," Alice giggled teasingly to which Ace playfully rolled his eyes at her childish behavior.

― ❈ ―

A large crowd of civilians formed in front of a restaurant as they all ogled into the diner with appalled expressions while speaking to one another in hushed whispers.

A man dressed in a cheap brown robe glanced at the crowd in question as he walked passed them. As the commotion seemed to increase he decided to approach the large assembly of Alabasta natives.

"Hey, what's going on? What happened?" The man questioned curiously as he tapped a random person on the shoulder.

"Oh, it seems like someone suddenly died in the restaurant, and the person sitting beside the body is eating like it's their last meal and continuing like nothings wrong!"

The man in brown staggered in shock while gasping. "S-Suddenly dead?!" He stuttered, now understanding everyone's dreadful expressions.

At the front of the restaurant, earning the eyes of the crowd forming outside of the diner and the other people eating inside, sat none other than Ace and Alice. Ace, the presumably dead man, was face down in a plate of food, his elbow propped onto the bar table the two pirates sat at, clutching a fork with a single piece of grilled meat on it.

Alice, the person the bystander descried to be eating as if it were her last meal, was situated comfortably on a stool. The wooden stool which had visible teeth marks and scratches all over creaked as Alice adjusted her leg position.

Alice ignored the bewildered stares sent in her and Ace's general direction and continued to stuff her mouth with food without a care in the world.

Finished plates were stacked on one another messily. Bits and pieces of food were scattered across the counter from the large sum food both Ace and Alice devoured.

Alice could tell the concerned people that her dear childhood friend was alright, but what was the fun in that? Also, she was busy eating to care.

_'The food here is pretty good,'_ Alice mused in delight.

"He supposedly died in the middle of a conversation with the owner!" The man continued, "We think he's a traveler and unwittingly ate a Desert Strawberry while traveling."

"Mister, could I get another plate of this? And while you're at it, run up the bill. The guy beside me is paying for all of this by the way, all right?" muffled Alice with a mouth full of food, she resembled a squirrel stuffing its mouth with nuts the way her cheeks expanded when she ate.

"Paying?! He's dead!" Just as a male shouted, as if on cue, Ace jolted awake, food stuck to his face as he stared ahead of him dazedly.

"He came back to life!" shrieked almost everyone in unison.

Alice blinked, looking beside her in amusement. "Welcome back to life Freckles, I stole a bite of your steak while you were sleeping, hope you don't mind," Alice admitted indifferently while onlookers stared at the two, dumbfounded.

"Oh, that's fine," Ace muttered absentmindedly in response as he squinted his eyes to adjust to the light and the position he was in.

Alice chewed the food in her mouth before gulping it down. She stretched her back and sighed in content as she heard a cracking sound.

A woman in a very nice dress cautiously shuffled towards Ace. "A-Are you alright?" she stuttered with a blushing face. Ace glanced at the bottom of her dress before grabbing it and cleaning his face with it. The woman shrieked and tried to tug her expensive dress out of his hands.

"Ace, where are your manners?" Alice scolded, trying her best to fake a serious look.

"Oh, whoops. I fell asleep."

Alice blocked out the shocked gasps and questions shot at Ace as she picked the inside of her ear with her pinky in boredom.

Before anyone knew it, Ace was face first into his food, asleep once again.

"Hey now! Don't sleep again!" The people of the restaurant growled.

Alice sighed, tired of all the shouting and the presence of so many people around her. She couldn't comfortably digest her food with so many annoying voices shouting in her direction. Due to Ace's odd condition, they constantly found themselves in that position when they traveled.

"Just leave him alone, I'll take care of him." Alice swatted her hand behind her back, ushering the people crowding them to leave.

After Alice sent the crowd one of her deadliest glares, the Alabasta natives hastily walked away to resume the tasks they were carrying out prior to the disruption.

Eventually, Ace awoke and finished his meal and while he was eating Alice miraculously slipped out an encyclopedia regarding firearms from her small sling bag to read in the mean time.

"That hit the spot!" Ace said with a pleased sigh while picking his teeth with a toothpick. "Say mister," Ace began as he rummaged inside his sand covered bag.

"What?"

Alice snickered to herself from behind her book as the old man responded to Ace with aggravation and annoyance. Bringing plates covered with so much food back and forth must have been a lot of work for him.

"Has this guy been in town?" Ace slipped Luffy's wanted poster across the counter.

"He's very loud and oblivious, if you need help remembering," Alice voiced.

"And he's also a pirate who wears a straw hat..." Ace began to elaborate but he was soon interrupted.

Alice smirked to herself as she felt a heavy presence approaching, the unpleasant smell of tobacco tickling her nose.

"I'm impressed that the two of you are bold enough to eat in public..."

Just as Alice closed her book and placed it back into her bag, the strong aroma of tobacco washed into the small restaurant, assaulting everyone within the restaurants sense of smell. The two pirates remained nonchalant as a pale, intimidating man smoking two cigarettes stared daggers at their backs. The man's muscular figure blocked the blazing suns rays that shined through the open door, which added a more terrifying sense to his character.

"Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates... Portgas D Ace," the man whom reeked of nicotine, Smoker was his name, addressed in his thick and rich tone.

Smokers appearance didn't shock Alice in the slightest bit, though, she wasn't expecting to encounter him so early in their travels in Alabasta. Alice's friend from the Marines informed Alice of which Marines, significant or not, who were at Alabasta when he told her about Luffy being in the desert kingdom. Smoker the White Hunter was his alias. The pale man worked for the Marines as a captain and his crew-mate's deferential attitude towards him and his remarkable strength earned him quite the reputation.

Smokers intense gaze drifted slowly in the direction of Alice. "And by his side, the infamous Bloody Alice, creator of the title 'Solo Pirate'."

Alice swiveled in her seat, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "That's me," she confirmed lightheartedly.

"You know, your name has been gaining a lot of attention after your battle with Sentomaru a couple months ago. I hear he's searching the waters for you to get revenge for that scar you gave him," Smoker spoke, taking a drag of his cigarettes.

Alice's smirk disappear at the mention of the fat man Sentomaru. "He's lucky all he walked away from our fight with was a scar," Alice voice lowered an octave as she uttered, her voice laced with seriousness.

Ace's eyebrows knitted in confusion and he glanced at Alice with narrowed eyes. He didn't recall Alice ever speaking about battling the bodyguard of Vegapunk, Sentomaru, and the fact that she gave him a scar during their brawl.

_'It must have been just before we met at that island,'_ thought Ace. He questioned how many other Marines Alice had encountered and was acquainted with before she took refuge on Whitebeard's boat. He was sure there was probably many.

Alice glanced upwards at Smoker, her usual grin and knowing look returning as she calmed down. "Tell that sumo wrestler that I'm ready for a rematch anytime. I welcome his challenge with open arms!" Alice chuckled, opening her arms as if to hug someone to add to her words.

"Wh-Whitebeard? The Whitebeard Pirates?!" The owner of the restaurant repeated, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets because of his sheer puzzlement. "B-Bloody Alice?" He glanced warily at the grinning red-head, then gulped.

"This dimwit is one of the Whitebeard Pirates?!"

"And that pig is the feared Solo Pirate?!"

_'Did he just call me a pig..?'_ Alice's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Come to think of it, I have seen the mark on his back before," someone chimed in, motioning their hand in the direction of Ace's bare back. "And people did say Bloody Alice resembled a boy."

Alice's jaw locked and a tick mark formed on her forehead as the people of the restaurant insulted her.

_'Calm down Alice, there's no need to beat the ass' of innocent people,'_ she thought while drawing in a breath of air but soon cringed with regret at the second hand smoke that entered her lungs.

"What are they doing here?!"

"What are two famous, big shot pirates doing in this country?" Smoker asked. Alice didn't think there was anymore clean air in the restaurant, all she could see and smell was smoke.

Ace rounded and observed Smoker. "We're searching for my little brother."

A minute passed as a heavy silence hung over those within the restaurant. Smokers intense gaze was strong with aversion for the two smug pirates seated not too far away from him. Though, Ace and Alice returned his gaze with equal hatred, not cowing from his look in the slightest bit.

Alice wasn't frightened of Smoker, there were very few people in the world who intimidated Alice. She was aware of the fact that Smoker was somewhat high in ranks, but it was obvious that he wouldn't stand a chance in a fight against Bloody Alice _and_ Fire-Fist Ace.

"So, what do you want from us?" A smirk remained on Ace's face notifying Alice that he wasn't frightened by Smokers presence either.

"To let me capture you two quietly," Smoker responded.

Alice let out a yawn, tired after eating so much.

"Nope, I think we'll pass."

"Yeah, I figured." Smoker closed his eyes as he took a long drag of his smoke. Alice knew if a normal human smoked as much as Smoker did, their lungs would be as black as coal and as damaged as a teething infants pacifier.

"I'm busy trying to find another pirate at the moment," Smoker said. "To be honest, I have no interest in taking you guys in."

"Glad we're both on the same page, because I'm kinda tired at the moment," Alice mumbled in boredom. "Mister, got any red meat?"

"You can still eat?!" The owner shrieked.

"Alice always has room for more food," Ace said with a chuckle. Alice nodded in agreement. The owner studied Alice and Ace in fright before staggering to the back of the restaurant.

"Thanks mister!" Alice waved at him with a smile.

"Then just look the other way," Ace suggested to Smoker, returning to their conversation.

"Can't," Smoker said before clutching his firsts. From his palms smoke started to form, Alice watched as he unleashed his devil fruit.

"Ah! You Logia Devil Fruit Eaters are so annoying to fight," Alice grumbled, throwing her hands up dramatically. "Mister! Hurry up with that red meat!"

"Not as long as I'm a Marine and you two are pirates," Smoker continued.

"That's a bland reason," Ace stuck his nose in the air, remaining as cool as ice despite Smoker preparing for a fight to take place.

"I agree, I like fighting when the opponent has an actual reason other than their job. You know, like a personal grudge or something," Alice pursed her lips as she thought about it while rubbing her chin. Smokers nose flared at the red-head's ability to joke despite him being just a few meters away from her, ready to attack at any given moment.

"Let's have some fun." Ace smirked. Alice was going to get up but then she realized that she was missing something important.

"Mister! I asked for something remember?!" Alice leaned over the wooden counter and peered into the kitchen. Inside the kitchen was the owner and the rest of the restaurant staff huddled in a corner sweating bullets. Alice sighed at their pitiful expressions. "Sorry Smoky, I'm going to be a little weak toda-"

"Gum-Gum No!" The faint sound of someone's voice chanted. Unexpectedly, a young boy with jet black hair flew into the restaurant. Literally. "Rocket!"

Alice shrieked as the boys head rammed into Smoker's back and was coming in the direction of both her and Ace. Alice attempted to jump to the side, but she wasn't fast enough. The Solo Pirate was added to the list of victims of Luffy's sudden attack. Alice, Ace, and Smoker were sent flying like bullets through seven brick buildings.


	5. C h a p t e r T h r e e

― ❈ ―

**'****T****he most valuable antiques are dear old friends.****'**  
― ❈ ―

The shrill sound of a steel fork hitting a glass plate resonated an unpleasant sound throughout the dead silent restaurant. The remaining civilians seated at their chairs gawked at a teenage boy, as he scoffed down his food animalistically. The diners were unaware of what to say or do. They were still attempting to comprehend the quick alter in setting due to what had transpired just moments ago.

Luffy, the boy who had prompted the awkwardness that encompassed the local restaurant, chowed on his food. "Yum! This is such a yummy food place!" Luffy complimented highly, oblivious to the looks of bewilderment shot at him.

The owner of the shop tilted his head as he watched the young boy gulp down his food. "Y-Yeah, thanks," the old man stammered. "Uh, you should probably run while you still can..." The old man advised, frightened for the future of the young boy.

"How come?" Luffy raised an eyebrow as he shoved more food into his mouth. It hadn't even been a full five minutes, yet, the boy had eaten ten plates of food. The wooden counter was completely covered with white plates. Some from the two who were previously eating and some from the boy eating at that moment.

"Those people that you just sent flying just now... do you know who they are?" The owner gulped. The man had no doubt in his mind that Alice and Ace possessed an overwhelming amount of strength. Only a pirate who was confident in their fighting abilities would remain totally calm when face to face with a high ranked Marine. If the owner was in Luffy's position, he would already be halfway out of Alabasta.

"Huh? Who sent people flying?" Luffy questioned.

Before Luffy's barge into the restaurant and his appearance causing him to fling three people into several buildings, the boy was roaming the blistering desert after being separated from his crew-mates. Luffy had been exhausted and severely dehydrated during his search. As soon as he spotted a city in the distance, the boy quickly bolted in its direction in search of a restaurant, his crew-mates location long forgotten as all he cared about was satisfying his inhumane appetite.

"You did," the owner deadpanned.

"I did? Who went flying?"

The owner jabbed his thumb in the direction of the several holes caused by Luffy's attack. Luffy's seat teetered as the boy leaned to the side, and glanced through the many holes. The other people seated in the building crashed into looked into the restaurant in confusion.

"What's with these holes?" Luffy asked, "What a weird shop! Is this your hobby, old guy?"

"You caused it!" The remaining people in the restaurant pointed at Luffy angrily and bared their teeth.

"I did? When?" Luffy mumbled and shrugged his shoulders.

While Luffy was being interrogated for the incident caused by his hunger and eagerness, a sore Alice laid under a blanket of cement and debris.

Alice's scrunched up face displayed how much pain she was in, as she pushed a block of cement off of her chest that was holding her down. The girl ran her hands over her clothes to dust off the dirt coating her as she stood from the floor.

"I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes," the red-head stated dramatically as she released a dry laugh of disbelief. Alice tried to relax her tense limbs but instantly regretted it. She grimaced as pain racked her entire body.

_'Now would be the perfect time my mysterious healing abilities should kick in,'_ Alice groaned.

The attack was completely unexpected. One moment Alice was shouting at the owner of the restaurant to get her some red meat to eat, and the next she was sent flying through walls. On top of that, she didn't even get the chance to view the face of the culprit. Alice didn't take well to sneak attacks because she thought of them as a cowardly action, with that being said, whoever surprised Alice and her freckled companion was likely to get their sorry ass kicked.

A block of cement flew into the air and Alice glanced to her side to see Ace standing up. A moan escaped his lips as he brushed himself off. "Why, you-!" he fumed, "Who the hell did this?!" Ace gritted his teeth.

Alice lowered her gaze. "Ace, let's jump whoever did this." She suggested with a dark gleam in her violet eyes.

There was shuffling behind the two pirates but both Ace and Alice paid no attention.

"Let's do it," Ace agreed, cracking his neck.

With a vexatious aura, Ace and Alice marched through the holes towards the restaurant. The people in the buildings tried to avoid eye contact with the two, they were frightened by their looks and status.

A man and woman observed Ace and Alice as they passed. Alice made eye contact with them and noticed that they were in the middle of having dinner. Alice licked her bottom lip when she spotted freshly baked garlic bread on the woman's plate.

Alice grabbed Aces shoulder to halt him. Ace glanced at Alice confusedly before she pointed to the couple. He studied the couple then glanced back at Alice. The two then bowed nineteen degrees.

"Sorry for disturbing your meal," the two oddly apologized politely. Ace started to prowl through the buildings again but Alice's hunger got the best of her. She decided to be the sly person she was and steal the garlic bread from the woman's plate.

Alice walked up to the couple, the two shuffled away from her as she approached. Alice reached for the garlic bread. "Hope you don't mind," she winked as she stuffed the greasy bread in her mouth. "Thanks." Alice took a step in Ace's direction then she gasped in revelation. "Oh!" She faced the couple again and clasped her hands, a (somewhat) kind smile on her face.

"If you happen to hear screaming, shouting and maybe the occasional flying of a detached limb from the restaurant in a bit, just ignore the sounds and enjoy your dinner date." The red-head chuckled casually as the couple eyes gradually widened and they gulped at the chilling words exiting Alice's mouth. Nonetheless, the couple nodded in understanding in hopes that they could avoid feeling the wrath of the notorious pirate.

"What idiot would do something this crazy?!" Ace's muscles flexed as the boy crossed his arms over his chest, kicking debris blocking his way as he marched.

"Right?! I'll punch their face in!" Alice proclaimed, her voice muffled by the garlic bread in her mouth. Alice swallowed the remaining food and licked her fingers.

The people in the restaurant made a run for it as Alice and her freckled friend neared the restaurant. They didn't want to be in the middle of a fight involving those two.

As Alice was deciding which hand she would punch the culprit with, she saw a very familiar hat sitting on top of somebody's head. Alice gasped, at the front of the restaurant sat the person she'd been searching for, Monkey D Luffy!

A broad grin made its way onto Alice's face, excitement filling her heart to as she spotted the Straw Hats captain. Luffy continued to stuff his face with food, not noticing the presence of his two closets friends. Ace's reaction was similar to Alice's when he spotted his long time best friend and younger brother.

"Oi, Luff-"

"Hey! Luf-"

Alice and Ace called out, but their voices were cut off when their faces collided with the ground.

"STRAW HAT!" Smoker shouted, holding both Ace and Alice's head against the floor.

Smoker inhaled as he approached Luffy, who was casually eating his food.

"I've been looking for you, Straw Hat!" Smoker exhaled, a vein on his forehead pulsing. "So you did come to Alabasta."

Luffy's eyebrows rose in curiosity as his eye laid on Smokers aggravated demeanor. Luffy couldn't help but rake his mind for possible places the two would have encountered each other because the boy was sure he had never met the large man before. Though, by the heated look directed at him Smoker seemed to be acquainted with the Straw Hats captain. Luffy continued to eat his food while he thought in silence, only stopping to catch the food that flew off his plate.

"Quit eating!" Smoker demanded roughly, inching closer to the pirate with clenched fists.

Luffy didn't, ignoring Smokers' words. Luffy thought for a bit more before spitting his food out in revelation. The chewed up food landed onto Smoker's pale face. Luffy recalled himself meeting Smoker in Loguetown not too long ago. After escaping from his execution, Luffy spent the rest of his time in Loguetown fighting and running away from Smoker and his soldiers.

"You're that smoke! What are you doing here?!" Luffy cried, his eyes wide with shock.

Smoker gritted his teeth, wiping the food off his face in disgust. "Bastard, " he snarled darkly, squeezing his fists. White smoke appeared from the palms of his hand. He was ready to fight.

"Wait a minute!" Luffy stuttered, putting up a shaky hand in front of Smoker. Luffy stuffed his face with the remaining food on his plate. "Thank you for the meal!"

And before Smoker knew it, Luffy bolted out of the restaurant.

"Stop!" Smoker roared, dashing after the frightened teenager.

Ace lifted is head from the ground in discomfort, his face dusty from the dirt of the floor. He saw Smokers running figure, then hastily rose from the ground. He whipped his head around quickly, before his eyes landed on his right where Alice's lean body laid.

"Alice! Come on you have to get up!" Ace shouted, lifting Alice's slump figure from the ground.

Alice's eyes spun. "I swear to the heavens I'm going to get a concussion," she expressed, her mind doing cartwheels.

Ace situated Alice on her feet as the girl gripped the sides of her head.

The only thoughts going through the freckled boys mind was the well-being of his younger brother. Ace hadn't seen Luffy in a very long time, he wasn't sure if the boy could handle Smoker on his own. Especially since his crew didn't seem to be anywhere around him. The last thing Ace would allow was his brother to be sent to Impel Down on his watch. After all, a big brother was obligated to watch their younger brothers back. It was one of the many unspoken rules of Ace, Alice, Luffy, and Sabo's family pack.

Alice released a breath as she snapped the many clips that held her hair from falling in front of her face, and tightened her lab coat around her body and the sling bag across her chest.

"We have to go after Luffy!" Ace rounded as he glanced in the direction Smoker and Luffy ran in. Alice blinked a few times, attempting to unravel the events happening around her but before she had time to comprehend the situation, she was violently pulled by her wrist.

"What-"

"Wait, Luffy! It's us!" Ace waved in the air as he ran into town with Alice. Alice became dizzy once again as she tried desperately to match Ace's rushed steps, but her mind was still in chaos. The girl was hauled like a rag doll as Ace chased after his brother.

"Ace slow-!" Alice shrieked as she neared a stand that sold vases. She comically jumped around trying to avoid falling onto the beautifully painted vases. Unfortunately, Alice's foot got stuck in one of them which made it even harder to keep up with Ace. She appeared like a stereotypical peg legged pirate as she hopped with her foot stuck in the vase.

"ACE SLOW DOWN!"

Alice collided into Ace's back when he abruptly halted. Alice sighed as she put her hands on her knees, her deep breathing could be heard from afar. As Alice's vision cleared she saw that Luffy and his crew were being chased by the Navy. Smoker pulled his hand back, launching an attack directly at Luffy.

"Alice, let's go!" Ace nodded at the redhead.

"Already one step ahead of ya'!" Alice squeezed her eyes shut and let out a groan as she tried to remove the vase from her foot.

While Alice was struggling to remove the vase, Ace leaped into the air. A smirk creeping onto his face as he unleashed his flames. His vibrant flames appeared by his hands before quickly spread around his body. His striking blaze caught everyone's attention.

"Geez," Alice took a breath, "sorry, but I'm going to have to break you." Alice raised her foot before slamming it onto the floor, she winced as shards of glass went flying around her.

"Heat Haze!" Ace shouted, sending a counterattack at Smoker, defending Luffy. Alice slipped past Smoker and briskly made her way to Luffy. She stood in front of the black haired boy and his crew and unleashed her Devil Fruit.

Alice tapped the silver ring on her right thumb, she smiled at the needle that poked out of the silver ring. She used the needle to cut the pad of her pointer finger and from the crimson blood that seep out, she conjured a long blade. The blade glistened under the sun as it hardened.

Alice gripped her sword, planning on fighting anyone to get Luffy and his friends away safely.

Smoker halted, his eyes darted towards Alice and Ace. "You two, huh?"

"Give it up," Ace said with a grin, fire radiating all over his body. He jumped down from his place in the sky and landed beside Alice. "You may be smoke, but I'm fire. A fight between your power and mine would never end."

"They had devil fruit powers?" Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter, asked rhetorically.

"Who is he, anyways? Why did that girl make a sword out of her blood? Why are they helping us?!" Usopp studied Ace and Alice skeptically. Being a pirate was still new to him, Alice could understand his uncertainty and distrust.

"Calm down, Usopp, I'm on your side. Smoky isn't going to cause you anymore trouble." Alice flashed Usopp what she thought was a reassuring grin but in actuality, it only made her look conniving and a tad bit scary.

"How does she know my name?!" Usopp shrieked creating distance from Alice and himself. Alice laughed at that.

Luffy eyed Ace and Alice, his heart tightened at the sight of his brother and arguably his favorite red-head. "Ace?! Alice?!" Luffy choked out, hoping his eye's weren't deceiving him.

"You haven't changed a bit, Luffy," Ace chuckled.

"I see you've got yourself some interesting friends too," Alice said, her whole face lit up at the sound of Luffy's voice.

"Ace? Alice? Is that really you? You both ate Devil Fruits?!" Luffy shouted in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, yes. I ate the Blood-Blood fruit," Alice sighed shaking her head. "Alternatively what I like to call pain-in-the-ass fruit though," she grumbled.

"Yep, I ate the Flare-Flare fruit!" Ace replied proudly. Unlike his red haired friend, Ace actually liked his Devil Fruit power.

Alice heard rushed steps and guns being loaded. More reinforcements from the Navy took their place behind Smoker and pointed their guns at the group of pirates. The soldiers narrowed their eyes to await Smokers next command.

"Anyways, we can't chat like this, we'll have a proper family reunion after Alice and I are done. We'll catch up with you guys," Ace announced over his shoulder at Luffy.

"We'll hold these guys off, you guys run!" Alice readied her stance. "Go!"

"Let's go!" Luffy told his friends as he started to run.

"But Luffy!" Nami ran behind him.

"Who are those people?!" Sanji chimed in, glancing at Luffy's overjoyed expression.

"I don't get it? Why are you guys helping Straw Hat?" Smoker inquired. He exhaled his Smoke and stared at Ace and Alice in distaste.

"It's natural for a big brother to worry about his bungling kid brother." Ace shrugged.

"Luffy and I have been best friends since we were both snot nose kids. I won't let anyone hurt him." Alice narrowed her eyes, clutching her sword.

"What? Brother? You mean to say-?

Ace surrounded himself with more fire as he went into a fighting stance.

"Move! Alice and Portagas D Ace!"

"I'm sorry, but that's a no can do." Ace smirked, bringing his fists up.

"It's the same for me, Smoky."

Ace projected his fire upwards. The navy soldiers backed away as the heat neared them.

― ❈ ―

"But Luffy who is he? Is he an acquaintance of yours?" Vivi ran beside Luffy, careful not to drop the supplies she was holding.

"Yeah!" Answered Luffy while running. "Ace is my brother!" Luffy grinned.

"BROTHER?!" The group shouted, they ogled at Luffy, flabbergasted. The thought of Luffy having a sibling never crossed their minds.

Nami gulped, "and the other person? What about the red-head?"

"...Oh, that's Alice! She's the girl I'm going to marry!" Luffy's smile reached his ears as he thought about the red-head.

"MARRY?!"


	6. C h a p t e r F o u r

― ❈ ―

**'****Sarcasm: Making the world a better place, one insult at a time.' **  
― ❈ ―

From a young age, Alice's name had been recognized throughout the New World and the Grand Line. Her father, Red-Haired Shanks — one of the four emperors of the sea — had raised the girl into the life of piracy.

Elise had given birth to their daughter, Alice, on Shank's boat. On the Red Force was where Alice matured and to the her father's dismay, where Alice learned everything about fighting and surviving in a world in which taking on the title of a Pirate, could earn a person a cold cell in Impel Down.

Albeit most wouldn't think so, as a small girl, Alice wasn't gifted with the art of fighting like her father and mother. People expected Alice to follow in her parents' footsteps and become a well-known pirate. The expectations of others was a heavy weight on Alice's shoulders that she felt at a young age and due to that she began to train herself like a dog day and night to meet the standard people placed her at just because of the reputation of her father and mother. The tough days of training with her father paid off because now Alice wasn't scared to fight anyone, no matter who they were. In addition, as she grew, she'd learn — with the help of her friends — not to care about what others thought or said about her. As Alice let the words of others affect her heavily as a child and as a result, hindering her self-esteem.

Though, despite her overwhelming confidence and boldness, there were a group of people the world that Alice would do anything to avoid clashing swords with. They were the famed Logia Devil Fruit Eaters or the bothersome body shifters; the label Alice categorized them in. Akari had fought against several before in the past, and as a Paramecia Devil Fruit Eater, had yet discovered a way to damaged the Logia holder's with her blood sword. Ace had informed her of a way to harm a Logia Eater, as one himself, though, because he enjoyed seeing Alice in a state where she didn't know something (because she usually knew most things) he kept it from her as a way to tease her. He found it humorous knowing of piece of information the genius red-head didn't, especially since she wanted to know so bad.

Alice's violet eye's peered behind her. She released a grateful sigh before opening her curled fingers which griped around her blood sword and ordering it dispersed into globs. The globs of crimson blood floated slowly in the air; glinting against the shine of the sun as it emitted a burbling sound. Like a vacuum sucking in dirt, Akari's blood withdrew in a blink of an eye back into the small cut in her finger as she rescinded her attack and lowered her arm.

Alice had noticed that the Straw Hat's were no longer behind them, as she assumed they quickly left the scene after her order. As long as they were gone and safe, Alice wouldn't have to fight. Smoker's Devil Fruit was a Logia type, and Alice never liked to fight without reason because she was far too lazy. Now that her only reason for fighting had vanished, her motivation to fight the bothersome body shifter had also vanquished along with it.

"Move," Smoker snarled, puffing out a cloud of translucent smoke. His soldier's stood behind them, fashioned in the signature blue and white uniform of the Marine's Alice despised so much. Clutched in their hands were a range of combat weapons, all of which would deem futile in a fight against Alice or Ace.

A playful grin tugged at the sides of Ace's lips. "That's a no can do." Ace lifted his hands and unleashed his blaze. The fire released from his palms traveled in Smokers direction before slapping against the ground, creating a huge wall of flames between Smoker, Ace and Alice. The navy soldiers let out panic cries as they hurriedly distanced themselves from the flaming wall of red and orange.

Unlike his soldiers, Smoker remained in place, not even batting an eyelash or flinching as Ace launched his attack. "To think you're Straw Hat's brother..." Smokers deep tone voiced, to no one in particular as he crossed his arms over his chest.

The heavy aroma of tobacco filled the air as Smoker exhaled.

"White Spark," Smoker muttered, and with a raise of his hand, a thick white puff of smoke was sent hurdling into Ace's fire wall. Both Devil Fruits collided fiercely as they expanded upwards like a wedge tornado. Pedestrians nearby gasped as their eyes widened in amazement, watching as the fire and smoke twirled together in the clear sky.

Alice glanced at her watch, unfazed or maybe uninterested in the fight going on in front of her. She had witnessed Ace's Devil Fruit on several occasions and even had the honor of engaging in a few harmless practice matches with him. She admired Ace's strength, mentally and physically. For the entirety of his childhood, he grew up having to take care of himself, and having to put up a guard whenever he met someone. At first glance, Alice and Ace's life's were divergent. Every single pirate on her father's ship, Alice considered family, thus, Alice was constantly surrounded by love. She couldn't even begin to picture how her life would have turned out if she didn't have her father and his crew to look after her. Maybe it would have been a bit like Ace's.

Alice rounded, and then glanced at her freckled companion. She tilted her chin in the direction the Straw Hats ran in. "Let's go, Freckles, we have the future Pirate King to catch," Alice chuckled. Seeing as Smoker and his solder's were momentarily distracted, along with everyone else in the crowded market. Alice found it as a prime time to make their escape without being noticed.

Ace stuffed his hands in his pocket. "Let's hope we haven't lost him again,"

― ❈ ―

The sound of shoes slapping against the stone street resounded as the Straw Hats ran. The group of new pirates were still in shock by the news Luffy had told them. They had initially thought they knew most things about their Captain, as he was an open book and the boy knew almost everything about his members. It was as if they had unlocked Pandora's Box after finding out about the relationship Luffy's had with his two closets friends, which had them taken aback at what they uncovered.

The Straw Hats skidded to a stop, craning their neck as they observed Ace's fire and Smoker's smoke dance into the air, wafting the dust that laid on the street into the atmosphere.

"What in the world is happening?" Tony Tony Chopper, the Straw Hats doctor and new addition to the crew, questioned, taking the form of his walk point.

Usopp, the Straw Hats sniper, tightened his grip on his satchel. "It's a fight between flame and smoke!" He shouted, taking a step forward.

"He did say he ate the Flame-Flame Fruit." Vinsmoke Sanji, the Straw Hats chef, shrugged.

"But Luffy! Is it true that guy's your brother? And you're going to marry that red haired girl?!" Nami, the Straw Hats navigator, asked her captain. She was still baffled by Luffy's earlier confession.

Luffy glanced at the orange haired girl before answering. "Yeah! His name is Ace, and the red-head is Alice!"

"I never expected you to have a fiancee, you having a brother isn't too surprising though. What are they doing in the Grand Line?" Roronoa Zoro, Luffy's First Mate, looked at his captain who was watching the fight in awe.

"Ace and Alice are pirates!" Luffy answered Zoro's question. "Ace left the island three years before me to find One Piece! And Alice left a year after Ace, but she's not as interested in One Piece like me and Ace are." Luffy let out a hearty laugh as he spoke about his two closest friends. Luffy didn't expect to reunite with Ace and Alice so early, not that he was complaining. He was eager to catch up with them and find out how their pirate journey had been going, as his was nothing but an amazing adventure so far.

The Straw Hats studied their oblivious captain in silence, unsure of how to react to all the new information spilled onto them.

"A-Anyways, let's hurry back to the ship. Let's escape before anyone comes after us," Nami stuttered, turning her back towards the fight. Attempting to get her friends' attention.

Sanji rushed towards Nami. "Yes, Nami-san!" He agreed lovingly.

The Straw Hats carried on their run to the Going Merry. Some of the members ran backwards, still entranced by the smoke and fire in the sky that started to stretch across the cloudless sky of Nanohana.

"Still, I never thought I'd see them in a place like this!" Luffy voiced with a laugh while running backwards.

"Ah! The path splits into two!" Usopp pointed to a split road ahead.

"Usopp! Left! Hear me? Guys!" Nami shouted over her shoulder, hoping that all her friends heard her.

"Yes, Nami-san! I'll follow you wherever you go!" Sanji swayed side to side with hearts in his eyes, his mind occupied with loving thoughts of the orange haired beauty, the Straw Hats navigator. Then again, his mind was usually polluted with the thoughts and pictures of women in general.

Unknowingly to the Straw Hats, Luffy (being the oblivious boy he was) kept his eyes trained on the battle. Luffy whistled. "Cool! The fireball is going even higher!" He mused, and because his focus was elsewhere, both him and the Straw Hats didn't notice the distance between them and their Captain increasing as Luffy went right instead of left like Nami instructed.

― ❈ ―

"It seems there really is no end to a fight between flame and smoke. Though, it was already obvious enough." Smoker took a drag of his cigar, the vapour filled his lungs as he watched his Navy soldiers pass him and try to extinguish the remaining fire.

Smoker narrowed his eyes as he scanned the area around him. "Where did the Straw Hats crew go?"

"Th-They're gone!" A navy soldier answered.

"So are Ace and Alice! We've lost sight of them!"

― ❈ ―

Alice hummed a random tune as she dug into the space of her sling bag, before pulling out a mini hand fan. If an onlooker were to see her at that moment they would be baffled on how the girl's entire arm seemed to disappear into her small bag. Alice had many personal contraptions she invented, one of the one's she used most often was the sling bag that seem to remain over her chest permanently. The bag was like a magicians hat, no matter how small it may seem Alice used science and her ever vast creativity to create a bag that had endless space. From the bag, she could pull out a whole desk if she wanted too, that was, if she decided to put one in there. She never told anyone how she was able to basically create a black hole of infinite space in the small sling bag, mostly because she loved to keep people questioning.

After all, the less one revealed, the more people wonder; which was the philosophy Alice lived by.

The nineteen-year-old's body felt like an ocean as her tanned skin was coated in sweat. The weather was so hot, one could fry an egg on the streets.

Because of Ace's fire that acted as a diversion, Alice and Ace managed to slip past Smoker and his soldiers successfully. Alice and Ace decided to hop onto the rooftops of shops and stores to see if they could find Luffy and his crew.

"See him?" Ace shouted from his spot on top of a building.

"Nope! Let's walk that way!" Alice pointed to another building on her left. Ace effortlessly jumped down from the building he was on and jogged to Alice's side.

The two pirates walked side by side scoping the area.

Alice released a deep sigh. "We just had him," she ruffled her messy, red hair in annoyance, the fan clutched in her hands blowing tendrils of hair off her neck.

"Looks like we're back to square one," Ace murmured.

Alice shoved one of her hands in her pocket as she kicked a rock that was in her way. The rock rolled and landed into an alleyway not too far from her.

"Ow! What was that?" A distant voice fumed in confusion.

Alice blinked with a hesitant expression, that voice seemed rather familiar. She glanced at Ace and he seemed to think so too, the former knitted his eyebrows as he strolled in the direction of the voice.

"Why am I the only one here?" The voice grumbled.

Alice shook her head with an amused grin. When she heard what came out that person's mouth her suspicion was confirmed. She knew whose voice that was.

Alice walked over to Ace's side, returning the mini fan into the space of her bag,

In the alleyway, sitting on a wooden crate, was none other than Monkey D Luffy. Luffy scratched the back of his neck as he stared into space with a perplexed expression.

Ace watched his dizzy younger brother. "He's lost, I'm not surprised," he snickered.

Luffy tilted his head with his arms crossed. "Where did they go?" He pondered.

"Sheesh! I guess letting you go was pretty pointless," Ace expressed as he and Alice revealed themselves.

"Your crew is probably really annoyed," Alice claimed with a shake of her head. Alice could imagine them pacing back and forth on their ship wondering where their captain disappeared to once again.

Luffy looked left and right trying to find the source of the voices. His eyes traveled to the roof of the building beside him. Luffy brightened up at the sight of his two best friends, his mouth parting, resembling the expression that would be on his face when Sanji made him some type of meat incorporated dish.

"Yo," Ace greeted his little brother.

Beats of silence passed as the three family members shared ecstatic looks. It had been three years since Ace had last seen Luffy. It had been three years since he first embarked on his pirate journey, at the age of seventeen. The age Alice, Ace, and Luffy promised each other they would leave Foosha Village and begin their pirate journey.

The three were all in different places in their pirate career. Ace, being the commander of the Second Division of the Whitebeard Pirates, arguably the strongest Pirate group during that time. Alice, being the free soul she was, traveling the world for information and day by day coming closer to accomplish her three ultimate goals in life. Also, Luffy, being the Captain of the newly formed Straw Hat Pirates, and floating the waters on his ship with his friends on his journey of becoming the King Of Pirates as well as finding One Piece.

After three years of being apart, Ace's family was back together.

Alice squatted. "You been good, Smiles?" She asked with a soft smile; a smile reserved only for Luffy.

There was never a day where Alice didn't wish for Luffy to be by her side again. She loved his bubbly personality and missed his presence since she left the island. Seeing him at the Grand Line on the journey to accomplish his life long goal almost made her tear up. Almost.

"Ace! Alice!" Luffy lit up as he quickly jumped off his crate, missing the familiar nickname Alice called him.

When Ace, Sabo, Luffy, and Alice formed their juvenile group they named ASLA, the four of them decided to give each other alias' to hide their identies. After the severe trouble the children caused, they didn't want anyone to find out who they were to seek revenge. Especially Alice, considering not many people had the shade of red hair she did which was very distinguishable, in addition, she did already have a wanted poster at the tender age of four, even though the picture on the poster was not her, at the time, she didn't want to take any chances. Alice had promoted the idea that they name their nicknames after their most prominent feature. Thus, Ace was named Freckles, Sabo was Blondie, Alice was Red, and Luffy was Smiles for he didn't really have a very prominent feature like the rest as he was pretty plain looking but his smile was very charming and lovable.

Alice observed Luffy before engulfing him in a bear hug. He had grown just a bit taller in the last two years, unlike Alice who had remained five feet four inches since she was fifteen.

"Smiles!" Alice grinned, squeezing the boy tightly in her arms. Luffy stumbled a bit from the unexpected hug.

After regaining his footing Luffy returned the hug. "Red!"

Alice separated from Luffy and stood in front of him._'Same scar, same goofy grin. Luffy looks exactly the same.'_ Alice sighed, relieved.

Ace, feeling a bit left out, approached the two with a playful frown on his face. "You never hug me like that, Alice," Ace expressed as he hung his arm over Alice's shoulder.

Alice shoved Ace off her with a laugh.

Ace looked at his younger brother with a toothy grin. "Haven't seen you in a while! Luffy!"

"You too, Ace." Luffy nodded. Luffy looked at Ace for a while before a competitive smile made its way to his face. Luffy walked towards the crate he was previously sitting on and positioned his elbow on it. Ace chuckled and did the same, he knew exactly what Luffy wanted to do.

Alice shook her head with her arms crossed. _'They never change.'_ Luffy always wanted to test his strength against Ace. They've had countless fights, but if Alice memory served her right, Luffy had never won.

The two boys gripped each other hands but they didn't start. They looked at Alice with a look that said 'hurry up'.It was tradition that Alice had to start the fights officially. Alice rolled her eyes before strolling in between the two.

"Ready? Set, go!" Alice shouted, officially starting the arm wrestle.

"How many years has it been?" Luffy smiled.

"Good question. But, Luffy. It looks like you still have your own pace. Just like you did since you were a kid," Ace affirmed, tightening his grip on Luffy's hand.

"And looking at how easily you got separated from your crew, you're still the troublesome boy I remember," Alice laughed.

Luffy smiled sheepishly. "I'm surprised you guys ate devil fruits. But besides that, you're the same too," he pointed out. "Like when you'd sneak into the fields, Ace, eat one hundred watermelons, then spit the seeds out like a gun and run!" Luffy giggled pulling Ace's hand down a bit more.

Alice's eyes widened when the back of Ace's hand nearly made contact with the wooden crate.

"Oh! Is Luffy going to win for once?!" Alice watched as sweat formed by Ace's hairline, feeling her arcane facade slipping in the presence of the two people she trusted most.

Ace bit the bottom of his lip as he brought his hand back up. "Nope! And that wasn't me! That was you!"

"And then you got bumps right here!" Luffy's distinct laugh bounced off the brick walls of the alleyway they sat in.

"And that was you, too! Me and Alice watched and laughed at you," Ace grunted, pushing Luffy's hand down slightly. Alice had to admit, she missed the familiar sound of them bickering.

Ace and Luffy continued their fierce arm wrestling battle. Their faces were flushed red and sweat trailed down their foreheads. However, neither of them gave up, they moved back and forth like a seesaw, trying their hardest.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Alice cheered them on.

The crate that the two boys elbows were positioned on creaked. Alice took a few steps back as the crate started to shake. The crate couldn't hold anymore pressure and soon burst open, causing the water inside to flow around them.

"I guess you both are the same." Alice returned to her previous spot.

"Yeah."

"Brings back memories." Luffy reminisced, glancing at Ace and Alice.

"Say, weren't your friends looking for you?" Ace imparted, reaching into his satchel and taking out a canteen bottle.

"Yeah. But Ace, Alice, what are you doing in this country?" Luffy asked, his eyes following Ace's canteen.

"Huh? You're saying you didn't get the message I sent to Drum?" Alice questioned, crossing her arms as she leaned against the cool surface of the brick wall that offered a shade over her. Alice had initially gotten the new's of Luffy's presence in Drum Island — a Winter Island in Paradise, location of the Sakura Kingdom — from her Marine friend. She sent a message to Luffy, in hopes that he would receive it. She heard no reply in response, so she shrugged it off, thinking her friend had gotten the wrong information. Then, while cooped up in Ace's personal boats office, she received another call from her Marine ally, informing her of Luffy's appearance in Alabasta, the place she happened to be arriving at.

"Drum?" Luffy repeated. Alice sighed, what did she expect?

"Yeah. But it's no big deal or anything though," Ace brushed off. "I'm just in these waters on minor business, and Alice wanted to tag along," Ace explained, tilting his head back and drinking the clear liquid.

"Heard you were here so we decided to look you up. We made a promise that I'd look for you once you left the island, remember, Luffy?" Alice said. The two made that promise during Alice's last day on the island.

Luffy scratched his head in thought, "we did?"

"Of course you would forget," Alice said under her breath, familiar with Luffy's forgetfulness.

"What kind of minor business?" Luffy questioned Ace.

Ace removed the canteen from his lips and sighed in satisfaction. He threw the canteen to Luffy who barely caught it.

"I'm a member of the Whitebeard Pirates now," Ace confessed.

"Whitebeard Pirates?"

A proud smile crept onto Ace's face as he rounded, showing Luffy his back. "This is the mark of the Whitebeard Pirates." Ace pointed his thumb to the center of his tanned back where the skull of the Whitebeard Pirates was located. "It's my pride," he emphasized.

Alice stared at the large purple mark. She knew how much Ace respected and looked up to Whitebeard. She also did, just not as much. Alice could tell Ace looked at Whitebeard as a father figure, as he never had one besides Garp, who Ace then again didn't see much of, and also who put Alice, Ace, and Luffy through hell, attempting to change their minds of becoming Pirates. To Garps dismay, it didn't work.

"Oh?" Luffy said before drinking from the canteen.

"Luffy, won't you join the Whitebeard Pirates?" Ace asked, "your friends can come too, of course."

Luffy tilted his head to the side. "No," he responded without hesitation.

Ace burst into laughter at his brothers blunt response. Alice snorted, she said the same thing when Ace asked her. One thing Luffy and her had in common was their bluntness, the two never sugarcoated their responses or opinions.

"I figured not, just thought I'd ask. You don't do well with taking instructions anyways, just like Alice."

Alice shrugged. She couldn't deny it.

"Whitebeard is the greatest pirate I know. I want to help him to be King of Pirates," Ace proclaimed, "and not you, Luffy," Ace smiled.

Luffy didn't take any offense to his words, if anything it fired him up. "That's fine! Then we'll just have to fight." Luffy declared.

"I'm going to be King of Pirates," Luffy vowed, then chugged the water in the canteen.

"Hey! don't drink it all Luffy!" Ace yelled.

"Luffy! I didn't get any!" Alice shouted.

Luffy removed the canteen from his lips. He sighed before handing it to Alice, "sorry," he snickered.

Alice glared at the boy before snatching the canteen from his hands. Alice went to drink from the canteen but she noticed that it felt very light. She shook the canteen, not hearing any water.

"You finished it!" Alice exclaimed. Alice made a sound of disapproval and crossed her arms.

"Oh, Alice?" Luffy began.

"What?"

"Are you a member of the Whitebeard Pirates too?" He asked.

Alice knitted her eyebrows. "Of course not! I'm a solo pirate, remember. I do whatever I want, whenever I want," Alice smirked, "even though Whitebeard was practically begging me to join." Alice added smugly. Ace cracked up when he heard the red-heads obvious lie.

"Good! You can come join my crew then!"

"Luffy, I'm a solo pirat-" Alice went to explain.

"We're going to get married someday. You have to be on my ship so I can protect you!" Luffy said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

"My goodness, Smiles, how many times do I have to tell you that I was joking when I said that." Alice said, rubbing her temples.

If one wanted to be friends with Luffy, it was crucial to be smart about what one said around or to him. Luffy tended to misunderstand quite easily and to put it bluntly, take parts of what he wants to hear from information and run with it. Alice knew that trait about him well, considering the girl had known him most of her life. She, herself,was a victim of Luffy's misunderstanding, and that was how she came to be in the situation she then was.

When the red-head was around ten-years-old and Luffy, about eight, he promised to marry Alice when the two were old enough. At the time of his pledge, Alice had just been left on Foosha Village, in the care of Makino, by her father. The red-head, angered by her fathers decision of leaving her over something she thought was 'stupid', became very grumpy and had distanced herself from the people of Foosha Village — including Luffy — due to that.

Despite Alice's attitude, Luffy still stuck by her side. Seldom left her alone, like gum under her shoe. Luffy had promised Shanks that he would watch over — protect — Alice, just as much as he would the Straw Hat he was gifted, if not more. Luffy took the promise very seriously, because he looked up to Shanks after everything the Pirate had done for him and taught him, and Alice was his best friend anyways, someone he had came to love.

Because Alice's mind was clouded with annoyance, at both Shanks and Luffy, whom she disliked having stuck to her side in her then current state, one day, Alice decided to leave their shared home to train in the forest up in the mountains one early morning, while Luffy was fast asleep.

In the midst of her training, Alice was ambushed by a Mountain Lion ten times her size. Little Alice remained nonchalant in the face of the animal, confidence in her abilities of defeating it. She could take care of herself. Though, before the girl could even lift up her makeshift sword, Luffy had come running in the direction of the Lion, a thick stick in hand as he let out a battle cry.

In the end, Luffy had gotten his butt kicked by the monkey as he was just a scrawny little boy with little knowledge in proper fighting and a Devil Fruit power he could barely control. Alice took care of the monkey, then scolded the boy about his stupid action.

_"But I had to protect you! The monkey was going to hit you!" _He had said, as if it justified his action. His high-pitched voice cracked as he held his hands over the red steaming bump on his head with tears in his eyes.

_"And look at where that got you!"_ Alice rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms as the two walked back to their shared home.

Eight-year-old Luffy huffed. _"As long as its me and not you, I don't care if I get hurt! I'll protect you forever!" _

Alice had stopped her walking, then shook her._"Forever?" _She chuckled._"That's a really long time, Luffy. If you want to protect me forever, you'll have to marry me," _Alice said mindlessly, her voice laced with sarcasm.

_"Okay!" _

Alice eye's widen as she turned around to look at the boy. _"I was just joking Luffy-"_

_"I'll marry you so I can protect you forever and keep my promise to Shanks!"_ The boy held a clenched hand in the air, his dark eyes burning with resolve.

Alice sighed at the memory. Who knew one sarcastic comment when they were kids would turn into a vow of marriage, and a lifelong assurance of constant headaches.


	7. C h a p t e r F i v e

― ❈ ―

**'****I like the word 'indolence'. It makes my laziness seem classy.' **

― ❈ ―

Alice's finger held a page of the ancient book in her grasp. She read the chapters last sentence before turning it. Her violet eyes moved from side to side as she read and digested the words with her full attention. Though, she continued to walk in the middle of her two friends, still aware of her surroundings. Her father Shanks, long ago during her childhood spent on the Red Force, had taught her a few lessons, which she summarized into a mantra.

Be calm, but alert. Be relaxed, but ready. Moreover, be smooth, but sharp, were his words to her. Although, no matter the situation, Alice was always going to do whatever she wanted regardless, as her free soul would retaliate if settled into a specific role or job. Though, the mantra was always a nice reminder.

Alice inhaled a deep breath, the grainy sand floating in the atmosphere of the Desert Kingdom scratched her throat as the air inflated her lungs. The scorching hot sun shined down. Her golden skin — a result from her time spent outdoors and living on boats and Islands — glimmered under the radiance of the star.

"What're you reading?" Luffy's neck stretched, an advantage from his Devil Fruit, to peek at the words which had stolen his dear friends attention.

Alice hummed to herself, seemingly ignoring Luffy's question as she turned the page. "Nothing you'll be able to understand, Smiles." A grin tigged the corners of Alice's lips as Luffy's head retracted and his bottom lip jutted out into a pout. Alice shut the book in her hands with a soft clap and placed the relic into her bag.

Alice knew Luffy just as much as the boy knew himself. They — Alice, Luffy, and Ace — were really the epitome of best friends. So, when Luffy stole quick glances in her direction while reading and attempted to make conversation with her whilst they were exiting the alleyway she could tell the boy carved for her attention.

The crimson haired girl threw her arms lazily over Luffy's shoulders, grinning like a fox as she pulled the fat of Luffy's cheeks which stretched like gum. The boy wrapped his arms around her waist, bending down a bit to meet her level as his eyes formed crescents and he laughed giggly.

Ace glanced at the black haired boy and his travel companion, a spark of envy flashed in his dark eyes. "We should try and find your friends," Ace spoke suddenly, adjusting the place of his hat on his head.

Alice released her hold on Luffy's cheek, grinning as Luffy rubbed his cheek and glared at her. Though, the girl could detect his playfulness behind it.

The red head placed her hands behind her head and tilted her head back, observing the cloudless cerulean sky. "Getting spotted by the Navy is always a pain." Alice sighed. It was far too hot to fight against a pack of weak and ignorant soldiers.

"They must've gone back to the ship."

"Which harbor is your ship in?"

Luffy pursed his lips, humming in thought before shrugging. "Actually, I can't remember at all," he answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, geez," Ace exhaled, "pirate ship captains usually remember where they leave their ship."

Alice turned her head, opening her interlocked fingers to flick the side of Luffy's head as a punishment for his forgetful act. Though, she may be just as reckless and indifferent as Luffy most times, the girl was aware that those two characteristics didn't go well together and unlike Luffy, she could make right decision and listen to instructions when she wanted too.

Luffy narrowed his eyes at the red-head, though, she simply arched her eyebrow, as if daring him to retaliate. The black haired boy huffed and turned his head, mumbling childish insults under his breath. "Luffy isn't your usual captain," Alice, nonetheless, released a chuckle.

"Don't worry about it," Luffy assured his friends and shrugged it off, adding a hearty laugh.

"You are the same as ever," Ace sweat-dropped. "Say, what kind of a crew do you have?"

Luffy's dark eyes lit up at Ace's question, taking the opportunity to boast about how amazing his crew were. Even though they were small in number and newly formed, Luffy would lose every limb on his body to protect them, for they were his cherished friends. Luffy thought they were all amazing; the best crew he could ask for.

"A swordsman who wants to be the greatest swords master. He's always wearing a haramaki."

Alice knew of the mint haired Pirate Hunter. She overheard a conversation concerning him and his then, most recent capture once in a bar. Though, it seemed his title was false, being as he had joined a pirate crew. He intrigued her nonetheless — actually — every person abroad the Going Merry and had pledged their loyalty to the hyperactive boy named Luffy, attracted Alice's interest. Though, that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"A navigator who likes maps, tangerines and money!" Luffy continued, his voice laced with his usual enthusiasm.

"They're important on a ship," Alice replied absentmindedly, a frown etching on her features as her violet eyes gazed around the threesome casually, as if she were simply following the movements of a floating leaf.

Alice turned her gaze, meeting the dark hues of Ace, who already seemed to have his eyes trained on her. The two held a silent conversation with their eyes, non-verbally agreeing on something before returning their attention to Luffy as he spoke animatedly about his pirate crew. After years of friendship and companionship, words were no longer their only means of communication.

"And there's a cook who makes very yummy food."

"I'll have to try a dish of his," Alice licked her lips, her mouth watering at the mention of food.

"Oh! And there's a liar, too!" Luffy laughed. "And then a reindeer."

Alice smirked, her eyes twinkling. She had spotted a reindeer beside Usopp earlier when she spoke to the tanned boy. She found herself wondering how the reindeer could talk but she quickly deduced that it was probably because he had somehow eaten a Devil Fruit. Alternatively, another hypothesis of Alice's was that Chopper's oddity was the result of an experiment, though, she hoped such a cute animal didn't go through something so traumatic.

"I can't wait to meet this reindeer. I feel like we'll get along well," said Alice sincerely.

Ace chuckled. "That's quite the variety you got there."

Luffy faced his brother, his innocent smile plastered on his face. "We also have a princess and a duck now!"

"Oh!" Ace lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

"They're all so interesting!" Luffy exclaimed, his hands flying into the air with glee.

"I'd probably say you're the most interesting of all, though."

Alice released a chuckle and nodded her head. "I thoroughly agree."

"Still only a couple of people for a pirate crew... that's just like you," Ace continued.

Alice sighed deeply to herself, closing her eyes as her bottom lip jutted out. _'How tiresome.' _Alice thought with annoyance. A group of strangers had been following the group of friends since they exited the alleyway. Alice couldn't exactly pinpoint the time they discovered where they were but word of their presence probably circulated after their little showdown with Smoker not too long ago. To elaborate, an assembly of what Alice assumed to be pirates had thought it wise to tail the golden trio, to capture them probably. Alice didn't think they were a threat, and that was what she communicated to Ace via eye gaze earlier, so they decided to let it be until the assembly decided to make a move on them. Which Alice was praying they would decide not to do. If she could go the rest of the day without doing something as physically demanding as fighting, she would.

"Stop right there! Fire Fist Ace, Bloody Alice!"

Unfortunately for Alice, she never did have the best luck.

A plump solider with a nasty smile withdrew a gun from his waist band and pointed it at the trio. "As you can see, there's no place to run now," the pirate laughed triumphantly. As happy as a kitten in a yarn shop at the fact that he was able to put the two pirates in a defenselessness position.

More pirates surrounded them, blocking all exit ways.

"Your heads are mine! Prepare yourself!" The pirate threatened.

It was true, there was no place to hide. There were people on roofs and in alleyways all pointing their guns at the three pirates.

"Hey! Isn't that Straw Hat Luffy?!" A pirate holding a sword asked.

"Now that you mention it.."

"He's worth thirty million Berries!"

"Talk about luck! Fire Fist Ace, Bloody Alice, and Straw Hat Luffy!" The leader exclaimed happily. "Once I have your head, our promotion is a hop, skip, and jump away!"

Alice, Ace, and Luffy continued to walk straight, ignoring the pirates as if they were invisible. "Anyways, let's find your ship. Let's go to the shore," Ace suggested nonchalantly.

"Yeah." Luffy nodded.

"Hey, you!" A pirate screamed, "hold it right there!"

"Bastards," the leader of the gang groaned, his body shaking with anger. He was a bit embarrassed by the fact that they disregarded his entire existence. "G-Get them!" He stammered, pointing in their direction.

Before Alice knew it, a sword was being swung in her direction, she easily dodged it and hit the pirate in the stomach with her knee. Several other pirates swung at her. She dodged left and right, punching them in the process.

However, then, Alice was cornered by three pirates.

"We got you now." One of them sneered menacingly. At the same time the pirates swung. Alice jumped in the air, and then stealthily landed on one of the pirates head. The pirate shrieked trying to swat her off, but before he could Alice jumped once again and kicked the back of his head, causing him to stumble and collide with the other two pirates.

Alice groaned as she spotted the pirates swirling eyes and pale face as she landed on the stone ground. "Come on!" She clicked her tongue, placing her hands on her hips with a huff. "If you're going to make me waste my energy, could you at least put up a fight?" The men continued to moan and groan in response to Alice's words and one even looked like he was about to hurl. The girl crossed her arms and shook her head. "Really? I didn't even hit you that hard." She said, unimpressed.

The girl walked away from the group of defeated pirates. "And here I thought_I _could be dramatic at times." Alice mumbled to herself as she stood next to Ace and Luffy.

Alice, Ace, and Luffy stood together, unscratched. The bodies of the pirates who tried to attack them were on the ground around them, defeated. The captain of the pirates grinded his teeth in frustration, he drew one of his two swords out from its sheath before charging in Luffy's direction.

Luffy held down his straw hat nearly dodging all of the pirates swinging. The captain raised the sword above his head and let out a battle cry. Before the sword could make contact with Luffy's body, Ace jumped in and stopped the sword with one hand. He unleashed his flames causing the sword to become red and scorching hot.

"Ow! Ow!" The leader dropped the hot sword, bouncing from one foot to the other as he blew on his red fingers.

"Gomu-Gomu No!" Luffy chanted, his arms stretched behind him. "Bazooka!" He finished, pushing his palms towards the captains stomach, sending him flying.

Alice squinted, watching the pirate fly so far that she couldn't see him anymore. _'He asked for it.' _She shrugged.

Alice, Luffy, and Ace proceeded their walk towards shore as if nothing happened.

The defeated pirates let out shouts, but they ignored them. The three walked for a bit more until the salty aroma of the ocean filled the air around them.

"Oh! An ocean!" Luffy jumped to the stone wall that separated the town from the beach, to get a closer look at the large body of water.

"See your ship?"

Luffy narrowed his eyes to look back and forth for his ship.

Rushed steps and the sound of heavy breathing approached the trio, "there's no escape!" The pirates from earlier shouted behind them.

"You guys just never learn," Ace rounded to face the pirates with an exasperated expression. An expression Alice mirrored.

"Ah! There it is!" Luffy pointed to his boat far away from them. "Hey! Over here! Guys!"

"Ah, Luffy, go on-"

Alice saw Luffy jump down the stone wall and onto the beach. "Never mind. Let's go, Ace." Alice smiled, bobbing her head towards Luffy's ship.

Ace grabbed onto Alice's waist and flew towards his boat, leaving the angry pirates behind in the dust.


	8. C h a p t e r S i x

― ❈ ―

**'If being crazy means living life as if it matters, then I don't mind being completely insane.'**

― ❈ ―

The sky was an endless blanket of blue, void of any translucent puffs of white clouds which seemed never to appear over the desert kingdom of Alabasta. A gentle breeze caressed Alice's golden skin as she stealthily crouched down behind a certain reindeer's shoulder. Her violet eyes glanced in Ace's direction momentarily, who continued his conversation with the Straw Hat pirates who all stood in a single file line right in front of Alice, though, the amateur pirates were unaware of her presence and her plan to scare them out of their skin. Alice knew Ace was informed of her scheme, the male did help her sketch it after all.

To explain, Alice was mentally orchestrating how she would (not really) introduce herself formally to the people who Luffy chose to accompany him on his voyage into the New World, in just a few moments. The devilish part of Alice convinced her that a startling appearance would make a fine initiation to what Alice hoped would be a pleasant friendship.

Thus, as Ace distracted the Straw Hats while making his own normal introduction as Luffy's brother, Alice would sneak onto the Going Merry, careful to hide her presence and footsteps and spook the Straw Hats.

_'People have always told me that I make stunning first impressions,_' Alice snickered to herself as she settled behind her victim. Which happened to be the adorable reindeer Luffy told her about, named Chopper.

At first glance, Alice was instantly taken by the reindeer. The girl had a weakness for cute things, particularly endearing small animals like Chopper. Ace had said that it was probably one of the meager feminine things about Alice's boyish demeanor. Albeit, Alice had found herself intrigued by the talking and walking reindeer. Just how did an animal receive the ability to function like a normal human being? So, Alice decided to ask.

Alice's violet eyes twinkled. "Could I possibly... perform an experiment on you?" Shanks daughter questioned casually behind Choppers ears, her husky voice alerting those on board of her presence.

The Straw Hats remained went rigid as they slowly rounded. Their eyes practically flew out of their sockets as they saw Alice gradually rising from her crouching position. Even the ever indifferent Zoro flinched at the sight of her, mentally questioning just how she had settled herself behind them without him noticing not even a bit.

"KYAH!" Chopper released a shocked scream as he jumped into Usopp's arms. Usopp let out his own shout as well. The tanned boy's skin paled, he looked as if he had just seen a ghost.

Alice held a hand on her stomach as she supressed her laughter.

"E-Excuse me?!" Chopper stuttered with wide eyes. His blood ran cold as he recalled Alice's question. Had she just asked to perform an experiment on him? Moreover, so casually too, as if he'd say yes!

Luffy ran in front of his startled members, holding his hands up as if to shield and protect them from Alice and her ideas of using them as lab rats. "Red! No experimenting on my members!" Luffy announced sternly.

Alice sat beside Ace on the railing of the boat. The girl nodded in Luffy's direction, sending him a playful look. She was throughly satisfied by their reactions. "Relax! I'm only jesting. I may go to great lengths to push my research but I don't play in the realm of testing on living creatures. Not really my thing."

The Straw Hats shoulders dropped in relief.

"Well," Alice thought to herself with a hum, "it's not my thing _anymore_."

Ace shook his head at Alice's words. The Straw Hats had went on defense mode once again as they stared skeptically at Alice. Zoro had even placed one of his hands on the hilt of his sword. "Red," said Ace in a warning tone.

Alice chuckled. "Do you believe everything someone tells you?! Geez! You lot are gullible!" Alice offered a genuine smile, the daunting look in her violet eyes vanished. "I have _some_ humanity left!"

"You- You are..." Nami started, her expression filled with mixture of shock and unease as she locked eyes with Alice. Alice knew that look well. It was the look people gave her after failing to figure her out and feeling unsettled by that. Having someone as unpredictable as Alice in one's presence would make anyone a bit anxious.

"What? Beautiful, a genius, immensely talented—" Alice listed.

"Mad!" Usopp called without thought.

Alice blinked rapidly, her mouth parting with slight shock._'Mad?'_ Alice had never heard someone call her mad. She had gotten crazy, insane, and even deranged. She had all possible synonyms of crazy shouted at her throughout her life but never had she gotten mad.

Beats of silence passed among those on board the Going Merry. The pirates found themselves becoming apprehensive to what Alice would say in response to Usopp's claim. The Straw Hat's held their breath, thinking Alice would be insulted, being called mad wasn't exactly a compliment. With the blank look on the red-head's face, Usopp was slowly regretting what he had blurted out. Usopp considered apologizing because despite the odd things Alice may have said, she was still someone very close to his captain and she _did_ save them from the Marines earlier.

In spite of the tense atmosphere, a fond smile settled on Luffy and his brothers face as they studied Alice.

Alice naturally had very little, to no shame. The red-head consistently remained true to herself and was unapologetically her. Despite how much trouble she may find herself in due to her laid back nature, with a handful of her other weaknesses (which she chose to ignore most of the time), Alice thought it was important to embrace one's character. All the bad and good that came with it as well. Thus, as Alice digested Usopp words, she found herself harboring no ill feelings towards his claim. If the girl were completely honest, she _was_ a bit mad and eccentric. She _did_ in fact hear voices in her head from time to time, and she _did_ become a bit hyper when it came to her work and research, in addition to that, the female also _did_ make odd comments sometimes. Alice could probably write a whole thesis concerning her oddities and peculiarities. However, she loved it, she loved that she was different. She embraced it.

_'Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one was content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her,'_ Alice mentally recited, the words of the famous philosopher, Laozi, came to her mind.

The Going Merry's mainsail flapped as a breeze circulated the body of water the group of pirates drifted on.

"Well, Usopp," Alice started, tilting her chin upwards as a smile tugged the corners of her rosy lips. "All the best people are," Alice replied lightheartedly, her voice as soft as velvet as she shrugged.

A few Straw Hats couldn't help but snort at her words, all unfriendly thoughts regarding Alice leaving their minds. Alice had a distinct aura around her, one of complete confidence and content. As if nothing anyone said or did could affect her. She was peculiar no doubt, but then again who wasn't? Some would call the Straw Hats mad for choosing a captain as hyperactive as Luffy, but they trusted and held the boy in high regards. He saved them all in one way or another, unlocking a world and lifestyle they had came to love. A lifestyle where they could be themselves, sailing the sea with their best friends on a never ending journey.

_'She's not too bad,'_ the Straw Hats thought with a grin.

A cheek splitting smile plastered Luffy's face as he tumbled in Alice's direction. The boy lengthened his arms, wrapping them around Alice like an elastic. Alice lifted a brow as the black haired boy pressed his face against her own, causing the fat on her cheeks to push her lips into a pout.

"Isn't she just great?!" Luffy cheerfully asked out loud, ignoring the entire meaning and purpose of personal space — like usual — as he kept Alice in his arms.

As Luffy raved about his two closets companions, Alice tilted her head to the side, observing the many pirate ships approaching the Going Merry in the distance. She squinted, attempting to distinguish if the ships were Navy or pirate affiliated.

"Looks like you've got company, Smiles." Alice nodded her head in the direction of the fleet. The Straw Hats rounded behind them, their eyes widening at the sight.

Vivi — the Alabasta Kingdom's princess that Luffy spoke about — gasped, her mouth parted in shock. "Baroque Works! Those are the Billions' ships!" Vivi explained in fright.

"Fire-Fist Ace, Bloody Alice, and Straw Hat Luffy, don't think you can get away!" A pirate announced through speakers located on one of Baroque Works ships.

Luffy untangled his arms from around Alice, though he still kept a hold on her hand. The boy dragged her as they leaned against the opposite railing to the one Ace sat on. "Those guys again?" The Straw Hats captain asked, pushing himself against the white railing to get a better look at the Billions' ships.

"I applaud their commitment." Alice laughed. She pulled her legs over the wooden railing so she could sit comfortably on it. Her brows knitted as she detected the creaking and overall poor condition of the Going Merry._'You've gone through a lot, huh?'_ Alice ran her hands over the unsanded wood of the boat.

"Luffy, I'll clean them up," Ace said, jumping off the Going Merry and landing on his yellow raft, Striker was its name. Alice watched as he directed the one man raft towards the other side of the Going Merry.

Alice nipped the pad of her thumb with her ring on her pointer finger. A trickle of blood seeped out of the tiny cut. "I'll help," she said.

Ace's brows lifted as he heard the girl offer her assistance. It wasn't like Ace exactly needed her help. He knew Alice was aware that he could handle a few battle ships on his own. He wasn't the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates for nothing after all.

"Really? I thought I'd never see the day where you would offer to fight on your own accord." Ace grinned as Alice sheepishly avoided eye contact with him. It wasn't often Alice fought. Due to her indolence and her aversion towards moving more than what was necessary. Though, there were a few very rare cases where Alice would engage in combat. Ace didn't think fighting against a fleet of pirates would be one them.

Alice licked her lips as she stood on the railing, careful not to fall off and drown to death. She pulled the zipper open of her sling bag, quickly pulling out what seemed like a plastic stick that would be used to make bubbles. "I need to make it up for surprising Luffy's friends like I did somehow. I seem to forget that not everyone thinks my interesting sense of humor is as comical as I do," Alice chuckled to herself. She didn't entirely regret her prank. She wished she would have taken a picture because their reactions were priceless, but, they were Luffy's crew-mates, and she hoped they could become friends.

"I knew you had a heart in there somewhere, Red!"

Alice's eye twitched in annoyance, but before she could say a smart remark to Ace's words the freckled male dashed off in the direction of the fleet with a smug smile. Ace held his hat down on his head as the wind blew in his face.

_'That cheeky bastard,'_ Alice shook her head with a roll of her eyes, fighting the fond smile that wanted to make an appearance on her features.

"What's he going to do?"

"Especially on that little boat?" Nami asked, watching Ace ride on his boat towards the Billions' ships.

"Ace's boat is designed specifically for his devil fruit power, the Flame-Flame Fruit. He uses his flames to accelerate the speed of the raft and direct it," Alice explained, hiding her fascination for the creative invention.

The Straw Hats watched in astonishment at the speed Ace's raft was gliding against the crystal blue water.

"What are you doing, Alice?" Vivi blinked in puzzlement as a pool of scarlet blood formed in the middle of Alice's palm. The liquid didn't drop off its place as it increased like the blue-haired girl expected, but maintained a round shape, like a sphere.

"You'll see." Alice plunged the plastic stick into the glob of blood like one would when with bubble solution.

"Let's see what the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and Bloody Alice can really do." Zoro watched said pirates intently with amusement.

"_Eruzione Rossa (Red Rash)!_" Alice's lungs inflated before she blew a great breath of air into the plastic wand, watching as a bubble of blood quickly expanded like a balloon.

"Whoa!" Luffy awed at the bubble that appeared as large as the Going Merry, floating in the air and glinting against the rays of the sun.

"This'll do," said Alice as she landed back on the surface of the boat and completed her bubble. The Solo Pirate smirked as she pushed it, and the crimison bubble hurtled in the direction of the fleet of the Billions' ships. "I hope they like my present," Alice snickered.

On Ace's side of things, the boy had made it in front of one of the ships with the help of his raft. A Baroque Works pirate staggered with shock at the sight of Ace, though quickly regained his composure. They doubted Ace could take on a fleet of battle ships. "Just try to get past five of our ships, if you can!" The pirate shouted as Ace approached.

Ace grinned as his boat plunged into the water after he jumped off and into the air.

"F-Fire!" The pirates shouted, shooting bullets towards Ace.

Ace did a couple flips as fire appeared around his body, the bullets went straight through him. Ace's boat emerged from the water and he flew towards it before landing in his previous spot.

"_Fire Fist!_" Ace shouted. A ball of fire appeared around his clenched fist as he brought his right hand back. The ships went down one by one like dominoes as Ace thrusts his ball of fire through the middle of each ship. Soon, large parts and remnants of the battle ships were floating in the water, as well as the members of the Baroque Works, unconsciousness and beaten.

"Whoa!" Usopp exclaimed, his mouth almost touching the ground in shock. After that performance, the Straw Hats knew that Ace wasn't someone to underestimate.

"But there's still a few ships left!" Vivi gulped, her eyes wide with alarm.

"My attack will take care of them. Watch, its landed where I wanted it to be." Alice pointed to the large bubble that hovered above around three or four ships. Alice didn't bother ordering the bubble to pop itself, because she knew the pirates were stupid enough to shoot at it.

Alice smirked, watching as a cannon on one of the ships pointed at the bubble before shooting at it, like she had predicted. The attack let out an audible popping sound as it burst.

"_AH!_" The pirates on board the enemy ships emitted blood-curdling screams as the liquid landed on them, burning their skin and everything it touched. The ships gradually began to fall apart, an unpleasant chemical aroma countered the salty smell of the sea as smoke filled the upper atmosphere.

"I have the ability to transform my blood into a corrosive if wanted. A small plus side to my Devil Fruit." Alice answered the question she knew one of the Straw Hats would ask.

"So cool!" Luffy voiced, flinging his hands into the air in amazement at Alice's and Ace's abilities.

― ❈ ―

At the tender age of fifteen, when Alice had fully came to the realization that she would probably never grow any taller than the height of five feet four inches, was when the red-head had gotten her first taste of alcohol. On that day, Luffy and Alice had been talking one fine afternoon in Foosha Village, attempting to find an activity to do to ease their boredom, until Alice had proposed a challenge. The workers at Partys Bar would never allow Ace, Alice, and Luffy entry into the bar without Makino being present, simply because they were children. They never served the trio any alcoholic drinks, no matter how much the trio begged for just a small taste. So, if one of the two children were able to receive an alcoholic beverage at Partys Bar successfully, they would be titled winner and the loser would have to do the winners laundry for an entire month.

Luffy had quickly agreed to the dare, knowing it would be difficult for both of the children, but that was what made it fun.

After a moment of the two sketching out their own separate plans, Luffy had volunteered to try first, confident to win the bet. With how much fighting and training both Alice, Luffy, and Ace did everyday, the loser would certainly have their hands full with how much laundry there was to wash, dry, and fold. Just at the thought of the punishment, Luffy shuddered.

While Luffy was in the bar Alice had stolen a few clothing items from a local boutique and disguised herself as a middle-aged man. She wore a large hat that would hide her face and fiery hair as well as an over-sized suit to hide and give the illusion that she were larger then her actual petite size.

Unfortunately for the wannabe pirate king, Luffy's plan deemed poor and after a few minutes of him entering the bar, he was thrown out by an old man who habitually visited the bar and knew of Makino's orders.

Alice burst into laughter as she witnessed Luffy flying out of the bars entrance with a angered look on his face. Alice dusted off her shoulders, and swaggered into the bar, knowing she would succeed and she would be free from doing her own laundry for the next month.

Alice entered the somewhat crowded building with relaxed steps and seated herself at the wooden surface of the bar. With a voice as low and scratchy as she could muster, Alice asked the bartender — Sam was his name — for a large glass of beer, like the middle-aged man she pretended to be would. Sam, too busy matching up with the fast pace atmosphere of the bar and tending to other customers, nodded quickly and served her a cup of booze in a matter of minutes.

Alice had smirked at her cleverness. She had won! Moreover, no one in the bar recognized who she was. In congratulations for a job well done, Alice decided to take a sip of the yellow beverage. She was never too interested in drinking before because Alice knew of what excessive drinking could lead to internally. As a result, she simply stayed away from alcohol, even while on her father's boat. However, the red haired girl wasn't expecting the drink to taste as good as it did.

Her eyes widened as she relished the bitter taste that washed over her taste buds. Instantly, the red-head was hooked.

Since then, the girl could drink large quantities of alcohol and remain relatively sober. Alice's resilience for booze was iron strong due to all her years of immoderate drinking. Alice was sure there wasn't anyone who enjoyed drinking as much and as well as she could.

_'If I hadn't created that pill that made my internal organs immune to the effects of alcohol, I would have died from alcohol poisoning a long time ago,' _Alice thought in amusement. She crossed her legs as she was situated on a barrel with a drink of sake in her hands. Alice lifted the wooden cup to her lips, savoring the liquid that made its way down her throat. Alcohol was truly her kryptonite.

After the performance Ace and Alice had put on, Luffy had decided to pull out a few crates of Sake and have a mini party. The party was dedicated to their victory, their reunion, and Alice and Ace's introduction to Luffy's crew-mates.

"Whooho!"

The girl blinked in surprise at the booming whoops and shouts coming from Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp, who all sat on the floor a few meters away from Alice. The threesome were red-faced from the Sake they drank and just pure excitement. Alice chuckled at their enthusiasm.

"Ace and Alice are one of us now!" Usopp announced happily, raising his cup. After Alice had beaten the Baroque Works pirates, Usopp had instantly garnered a huge amount of respect for her and her freckled companion. "Cheers!" Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper toasted to Ace and Alice's victory with beaming smiles. Sake spilt out of their cups at the impact.

Ace sat on a crate right beside his red haired friend. "Who says I'm joining you guys?" He growled.

Luffy and his friends let out sighs of contents, some whistling after they chugged the alcohol. After recovering from the bitter taste they raised their cups once more, ignoring Ace's words.

"Here's to delicious drinks!" Usopp shouted.

"Cheers!" The four toasted once again.

Ace let out a groan and Alice laughed into her cup at his disdain.

"Don't worry about it! They're always looking for an excuse to drink too," Nami reassured Ace as she walked towards where he and Alice had settled themselves.

"Medicine is horrible! Cheers!"

― ❈ ―

"Ace! Are you sure you won't be joining us? Alice already agreed," Luffy asked his brother, his mouth filled with a variety of food. After Luffy got tired of drinking, he had asked — well, more so shouted — that he was hungry. At the sound of his stomach rumbling, Sanji wasted no time at dashing into the kitchen. In a matter of minutes, the blonde exited the kitchen with platters of food. Luffy practically had stars in his eyes at the sight of meat.

Alice did a double take, freezing her chopsticks over the roll of sushi on her plate. "Don't put words in my mouth!" The girl shouted in Luffy's direction, though, like she had expected, Luffy paid no attention to her words. Alice sighed with a shake of her head.

"I'm chasing a certain man," Ace stated, "his name's Blackbeard."

"That bastard..." Alice mumbled, her stomach turned at the mention of his name. From the moment Alice had met Teach, an unsettling feeling found its place in the pit of her stomach. Alice liked to believe she had good intuition and she thought that one day Blackbeard would do something wrong and unforgivable. Just a few months later the man murdered someone, a friend of Alice's no less. To say Alice disliked Teach, would be a grave understatement.

"Blackbeard?"

"He's the man who attacked the Drum Kingdom!" Vivi said.

"He used to be a member of the Second Division of the Whitebeard Pirates," Ace continued, "one of my men. But, he committed the worst possible sin on a pirate ship: he killed a crew member and jumped ship."

Alice bit harder on the end of her chopsticks.

"So, as a Commander, I gotta find and get rid of him." Ace concluded with a sigh.

"So, that's why you're chasing after him. Alice why did you tag along then? You aren't part of the Whitebeard Pirates, right?" Usopp asked, remembering her mention that when they were drinking.

"Blackbeard deserves a good ass kicking for what he did, I just wanna be there when it happens." Alice shrugged. "But he's real slimy. Once we think we got him, he manages to slip his way out of our grasp."

Ace nodded in agreement at the red-heads words. "We came here because we caught word that Blackbeard was seen in Yuba."

"Then your destination is the same as ours!" Vivi ran into a room before exiting, a map in her hands. She placed it on a nearby crate. Ace, Alice, and Nami gathered around as Vivi spoke. "We've just entered the Sandora River. First, we'll land at Erumalu, then head into the interior of Alabasta to reach Yuba, here!" Vivi explained, pointing at Yuba on the map.

"The leader of the rebel army is in Yuba." Vivi took a deep breath, trying to hide her anxiousness.

"I see. You're headed to Yuba next." Ace nodded.

"I'll follow Nami-san, Vivi-chan, and Alice-chan wherever they go!" Sanji abruptly announced lovingly with hearts in his eyes.

Alice nearly choked on her sushi. _'Where in the hell did that come from?'_ Alice thought. Alice locked eyes with Sanji as he blew her a kiss and almost fainted when Alice grinned in response. The girl was unaware of Sanji's obsession for women, but still, she found it a bit humorous. Alice had very few admirers, mostly because of her boyish nature and overprotective childhood friends.

"Get lost, love cook." Zoro snarled at the blond.

Sanji's expression turned sour as he squared up to Zoro. "Say what! You-?!"

"Sanji! Alice is mine, back off!" Luffy shouted. Pieces of food flew out of his mouth as he spoke.

"'Mine?'" Alice blinked. "I didn't realize I was an object that could be owned... you learn something new everyday," she mumbled to herself, not bothering to correct her stubborn best friend.

"A-Anyways! It looks like we can travel together for a short while." Nami stuttered, trying to reel everyone's attention back to the topic at hand.

"Yeah, yeah! Luffy's brother and Alice are more than welcomed here!" Usopp agreed.

Luffy let out his famous laugh. "Let's have fun, Ace, Alice!" Luffy raised his cup.

Although Alice didn't know it then, in time, the Straw Hat Pirates would become her family. A family the red-head wouldn't waver to lay her life down for.

"Yeah!" Everyone gathered in a circle as they toasted to the start of a new adventure.


	9. C h a p t e r S e v e n

― ❈ ―

**'****Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.****'**

― ❈ ―

The red-head, given the name Adelais at birth but nicknamed Alice due to peoples inability to pronounce her name fluidly, presented many different faces. Not everyone received the same version of the eccentric female. To one person who may know of Alice, they may perceive her as a beautiful soul, using her selflessness to aid those less fortunate than herself. To another, the scientist may be a cold-hearted, contemptible bastard. Despite how divergent the two personality traits may seem, both were very much true to whom she was. Alice was an infinite puzzle, that only a select few could solve. She simply acted according to whom she was dealing with.

Alice's hands cupped the fat of her cheek as her chin rested upon her calloused dappled palm. Warm to the touch, her skin and all exposed sections of it suffused a shade of scarlet that differed from the normal golden bronze of her complexion. The vehement Alabasta sun emitted its deadly rays from its perpetual stance perched up in the infinite azure welkin; which stretched beyond any pair of eyes discernment.

The genius red-head gently chewed on the pad of her pinky finger. She quietly studied her distorted reflection that presented itself through ripples against the still river waves. She swam in her endless and bustling thoughts, unsure of which scheme her mind submitted would deem sufficient in her high standards.

A low and wordless hum emerged from Alice's throat as she glanced with quickness to the anterior of the Going Merry; where the culprits of Alice's indecisiveness situated themselves.

From his position on the ships hull, Zoro — whom Alice took the liberty of nickname Cactus due to the vibrant strands of shamrock that germinated from his scalp, and her impotentness to recollect the names of others efficiently — grasped a mammoth sized weight in his hands as he swung it to and fro like he would with the swords he had relocated on the floor, a short distance away from where he exercised. Strenuous grunts and pants slipped past his lips as his muscles tensed with every brandish of the mass. From the surface of his sun-kissed complexion, cutaneous veins swelled from what Alice knew was a result of his contracting muscles; which demanded more blood.

Landing her regard on the other companion on the hull; Alice's nose crinkled as a grin stretched her lips. Chopper was indeed one of the cutest animals the girl had ever encountered.

The youngest Straw Hat member laid on the wooden surface of the hull, using the air produced from Zoro's weight as a fan which ruffled his damp, brown coat of fur. His pink tongue poked out of the side of his mouth like a dog would, as he released short breaths of air. The heat of Alabasta and Chopper didn't seem to get along, Alice discerned. However, she was unaware if it was because of the fur that grew from every inch of his body, or perhaps the boy had never endured such heat.

_'I've made friends with the oddest of people, yet a short-tempered swordsmen and a reindeer are causing me trouble,'_ Alice scoffed at her anxiousness with a roll of her eyes. It seemed the older she got, Alice's convenient ability to make friends had gradually begun to withdraw from her, like a skill learned from childhood and a retired knack in a subject of art.

Initially, Alice hadn't intended to befriend the Straw Hats or further their relationship with each other past strictly acquaintances. She could often predict things fairly well and that meant being able to comprehend and manipulate conditions for her best interest. However, Alice had failed to anticipate the abrupt expedition that Ace and her had agreed to participate alongside the Straw Hat pirates to their desired location, Yuba.

Howbeit, Alice never had the best of luck and thus, she was stuck in a position where she would now be forced to make friends with the Straw Hat pirates to avoid any future awkward or uncomfortable situations with the pirates she knew very little of. _'You can never fully predict what could and would happen in Luffy's presence,'_ Alice's shoulders dropped and she released a sigh, her eyes fluttering shut as she sketched out her next course of action.

Do not misunderstand Alice, she in no way had any ill-feelings towards the Straw Hats. From the handful of conversations she had with them as well as observing them in the little time they've been together, the group appeared to be decent and kind people. But, whenever Alice intended to befriend others, there was a system she strictly followed.

Unfortunately, a system Alice hadn't had time to go initiate — due to her practically living in Ace's office-turned lab, for the entirety of the week before the duo's arrival on Alabasta.

One might ask, what exactly might that system be? Well, just a basic (yet very thorough) background check and character analysis. One might view Alice as highly paranoic to go to such lengths. Or perhaps overly skeptical of all strangers; to that Alice would say: most definitely.

To put it bluntly, it was one of the many perks of having trust and abandonment issues.

Allowing certain people into one's life to the point where one cares of them more than oneself; resulting in a state of disarray and vulnerability when they happen to leave in one way or another. In Alice's life, they always seemed to leave. Alice was simply cautious of whom she accepted into her friend circle. She wanted full control of knowing how and when to stop a relationship once she felt as though she was getting too close.

Too dependent.

Too carefree.

Too vulnerable.

Alice despised feeling vulnerable. She would not watch herself stoop so low as to suffer the loss of her character and entity after confronting the anguish that came with abandonment and demise; which wrapped itself around one's being like an indestructible, iron bond. The chain's often rattled, as a reminder of their permanent weight on oneself.

Over time they loosen their bind, but forever they would remain.

Never again would Alice allow it.

The red-head rolled her shoulders, unknotting her tense limbs. It had been a while since Alice had assiduously wielded her Devil Fruit, and her muscles and body were still adjusting to the 'new' activity. Her Devil Fruit itself wasn't even flowing properly because the lack of red meat and greens she'd been eating. Alice viewed her Devil Fruit as just a tiresome ability unintentionally bestowed upon her. Oh how Alice wished she could time travel into the past and warn herself not to swallow the irregularly shaped, red hued fruit.

She placed her hands into the pockets of her white lab coat as she strode in the direction of Chopper with relaxed steps. _'The thrill of winging it,'_ thought Alice with a short chortle. Alice knew as much about the Straw Hats that the public did, and what Luffy had vaguely explained to her a while before.

To Alice's relief, Zoro had halted swinging his hefty weight to take a short water break. Alice didn't want to accidentally misstep and have the weight smash her face in, she quite liked her face after all.

"Yo." Alice blinked from her spot above Chopper, who remained still and panting as if he were on the brink of having a heat stroke.

A crease formed between Chopper's brows, both of which were slicked down with sweat. His fur coat glistened under the radiance of the sun as specks of sweat littered his laying figure. Chopper's arms were placed outwards, thrown open as if to surrender himself to the harsh rays of the ball of fire, but likely because he was far too exhausted to move even a finger.

Chopper, himself, felt as though he were submerged into a bathtub, without the refreshing sensation of course. His senses were dull, as if the sun had burnt his capability to feel anything other than the sweat traveling down his temple, which wasn't much of a surprise to him. Reindeer's brains were effected most when heated. Even Zoro's make shift fan judged futile in cooling him.

Alice tilted her head to the side, then her eyes widened as a thought struck her. She dug her hand into the space of her sling bag, grasping random objects until her fingers felt the smooth fabric of the desired item. Alice grinned as she heaved a rather large black, handheld umbrella and a single plastic water bottle halfway filled with water. She placed the umbrella between her thighs, then screwed open the cap of the water bottle. Alice set the bottle near Chopper's head.

"Time to wake up, Reindeer-kun," Alice spoke with a hint of humor as she pressed a button on the umbrella' handle which made it pop open. A large shadow cast above Alice and Chopper as the girl crouched down to the boy's level.

Firstly, his sense of hearing had returned. Chopper could detect the faint hawking of seagulls as they roamed the sky. The Going Merry creaked as the river's water swam against the boat and swept past its scarred and dull exterior. The Reindeer also recognized the drop in temperature and that he felt comfortable in his fur, instead of the infuriating feeling of his coat suffocating him he experienced just moments before.

Choppers blue nose twitched as if preparing to release a sneeze as his eyeballs quickly moved underneath his eyelids. His dark lashes fluttered open and his eyes formed slits. "Huh...?" Chopper lifted a brow as he attempted to distinguish the figure above him.

Returning his inquisitive gaze with a pair of dazzling violet eyes that Chopper knew only belonged to a certain red-head genius; who happened to ask for his participation in an experiment just moments prior, if Chopper's memory served him right. Which it regularly did.

The boy's eyes wrenched open and he rose swiftly, skeptical and a bit frightened of Alice and her capabilities.

Alice paid no attention to the fact that Chopper was looking around the boat as if hoping someone would save him from the odd red-head, instead — in the softest voice the husky toned pirate could muster — she spoke to him. "I guess you're not used to the heat of Alabasta yet. Here, have some water." Alice offered an awkward smile as she handed the open plastic bottle to the blue nosed Reindeer.

Chopper blinked, hesitant to grasp the bottle. After a moment of thought; detailing the dryness of his throat and how it yearned for liquid to quench its thirst, he slowly seized the water. "T-Thank you!" He said, his voice squeaking a tad bit as he avoided eye contact with Alice.

"It's no problem." Alice shrugged, watching as Chopper chugged the water. Chopper sighed in content as he drank the liquid until its last drop. He then tilted his head to the side as he studied Alice's umbrella. Alice glanced upwards at the sunshade and grinned at his obvious curiosity.

"This is what I call a 'Sunbrella'. An invention of mine which blocks out ninety-nine percent of the sun's UV radiation. The Alabasta sun is a bit harsh, since we're in the desert and all, so, its probably blocking around seventy-percent of UV radiation right now," Alice explained, her voice laced with pride.

Chopper gaped and he took a step forward to run his hoof along the black fabric of the Sunbrella. It felt firm and flexible, almost like leather but not quite, and much thicker. "Wow, I've never seen such a powerful umbrella! Where'd you get it?" Chopper implored. His shoulders dropped as he sat with cross-legs in front of Alice, visibly much less tense around the red-head now.

"Nowhere. I made it," Alice stated plainly.

Chopper glanced at the homemade item, and released a gasp. "Really? How?!"

Alice chuckled at his excitement. Her Sunbrella wasn't anything revolutionary. It was simply something she had created one day after discovering the blueprints to build it under her bed. She often found random blueprints in her room on Whitebeards boat. Alice's mind was constantly swarming with invention ideas and other science related things, that sometimes she would create blueprints for then forget about them. Her room was practically filled with hundreds upon hundreds of research papers, blueprints, sketches, et cetera.

Always pity the thinkers, for they were cursed with their imagination. Alice's hoarding and insomnia served as verification for that fact.

"I'm a scientist... and I suppose an engineer as well," replied Alice. She looked at Chopper's pale red hat. "And you're a doctor, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"Just a guess, but your hat kinda helped." Alice pointed to Choppers hat, where a sideways medical cross was placed. With the clarification of his profession, Alice perked up, an idea popping into her mind like most of her schemes do. "Actually, I'm working on something right now, and I think you could help me. Luffy has told me how smart and dependable you are."

Chopper jumped up to his feet, and began to dance amusingly. "Oh, shut up!" He gushed with a blushing face, swaying side to side with a bashful grin. "That doesn't make me happy at all!" He bit down on his lip and continued to dance in embarrassment.

_'So cute!'_ Alice tried with every fiber in her body to suppress coddling the Reindeer to death. She knew it was completely out of her character to 'fangirl', so, she simply bit on the inside of her cheek; hoping Chopper would mistake the redness dusting her cheeks was because of the heat and not her endearment.

"Well, I haven't yet created an official name for it, but it's basically a lollipop that can heal small cuts and bruises," Alice told Chopper as he recovered from his... moment. Alice recalled the first child she had given the lollipop too earlier. The boy who had bumped into her when she was strolling the narrow market streets of Nanohana.

"I was a very active kid during my childhood and I hated medicine. I wanted the lollipop to suit the taste buds of children who hated medicine and often got themselves hurt like I did." Alice's eyes lit up as she went into detail about her invention. "But, I was hoping to upgrade it. So it could heal larger cuts and gashes, maybe even a few minor illnesses if we're being ambitious."

"What a cool invention! I like the simplicity of it and it's a win, win for parents everywhere. It has a lot of potential!"

Alice nodded in agreement. "What do you say, Reindeer-kun? Wanna help me?" She smiled, and arched her brow in question.

"Of course! And you can call me Chopper!"

"Okay." Alice chuckled and scratched the back of her neck as she rose._'If I remember.'_

― ❈ ―

A colony of seagulls stretched their wings as they flew below the cloudless sky. Their grey feathers ruffled against the humid desert air and their dark eyes surveyed the deep river water in hopes of catching their next meal. Just as a fish swam high enough to the surface, a seagull's yellow beak would snatch one to devour then glide to shore, leaving the rest of the colony to seize their own meal as it ate.

Alice exited the door of Choppers room where they spent the past forty minutes chatting about a plethora subjects. From Science, books, their lives (though Alice spoke things about herself very vaguely), their aspirations and goals, Alice's medicine lollipop, and more were topics of discussion. Alice had enjoyed her time talking with Chopper, surprisingly. She didn't expect to actually like him as much as she did.

Though, their conversing was cut short when Ace had found her and informed her that Sanji was preparing rice balls and tea. The blonde cook wondered if she were hungry and would like some. Alice never turned down food, so she bid Chopper goodbye and told him they would continue their conversation when she returned from her snack break.

"Alice-chwan!" As soon as Alice stepped foot into the kitchen Sanji skipped in her direction. There was hearts in his eyes and he swayed side to side in a sort of odd dance. "How are you?!"

"I'm great Sanji, how are you?" Alice asked the boy, her eyes twinkling as she took a seat beside Ace at the kitchen table, right in front of Luffy and Usopp.

Sanji grasped the fabric over his chest. He mumbled something to himself before puckering his lips and blowing a fat kiss in her direction. "Fantastic, now that you've graced me with your beautiful presence!" replied Sanji in a sing song voice.

Before Alice could say any more to Sanji and toy around with his infatuation with her, Luffy stood up and waved his hands in the air, as if blocking the kiss Sanji blew from entering Alice's personal bubble.

Luffy took a large bite out of the rice ball in his hand and narrowed his eyes at Sanji. "Sanji! No blowing kisses at Alice!" Bits of rice flew out of his mouth like bullets as he announced, his words muffled my the food in his mouth. Sanji paid no attention to his captains words and he returned to preparing bentos for their journey to Yuba. His hips swayed side to side as he sung a cheerful tune to himself, clearly the blonde was delighted by Alice's presence. His kitchen was full of too much testosterone before for his liking.

"Heya'! I'm Captain Rice Ball Usopp!" Usopp stuck his pointer finger through the center of his rice ball and acted as if it was talking. Alice watched Usopp's creation with amusement while Ace simply sweat-dropped at the tanned boys childish act.

Captain Rice Ball Usopp waddled his way in the direction of another rice ball creation. "Oh! And who are you?" Captain Rice Ball Usopp asked in a croaky voice.

"I'm a Riceman!" said Luffy happily. He used two of his hands to handle his large snow man like, rice ball creations movements.

Alice poured herself a cup of tea then lifted the glass cup to her lips. Her mouth curved into a smile as she inhaled the scent of crisp green tea leaves. While Alice drank the steaming tea she noticed, as she watched Usopp and Luffy, that the two got along quite well. Usopp and Luffy had the same sense of humor and they were the same age. They made a great pair.

Sanji tightened his grip on the handle of his two frying pans. He didn't find Luffy's or Usopp's creations as amusing as Alice did.

"Quit playing with food!" with a loud bang, Sanji slammed the two pans on Luffy and Usopp heads. Luffy and Usopp cried in pain, their hands immediately went to soothe the throbbing spot. "If you have free time go wash dishes or something! Geez, I need to finish our packed meals before we cross the river," Sanji stated with exasperation.

With a gaze full of empathy Ace glanced at Sanji's tense form. Ace was well acquainted with Luffy's child like personality. He had been sailing the water with Alice for a while, and even the red-head could be a bit immature when she wanted to. "Need a hand?" Ace asked the blonde cook.

Sanji laid the pots down on the kitchen counter's and he shook his head. "No, no. You are a guest on board. Just sit back and relax," Sanji insisted.

Ace nodded in understanding. "All right."

Alice nudged Ace and once the boy met her eyes with a questionable look Alice pushed her chin in the direction of Luffy and Usopp. Ace's mouth parted before he shut it and shook his head with a sigh. Sanji would not be happy.

Sanji continued preparing the meals, however he noticed that Usopp and Luffy were being uncharacteristically quiet. He turned his head and his face morphed into one of pure annoyance as he caught sight of Usopp and Luffy cleaning the dishes he ordered them to in the mop bucket at the far side of the kitchen.

"Don't wash the dishes in that mop bucket!" Sanji shouted at the two boys.

Usopp and Luffy sheepishly pulled the dishes out of the brown water.

Alice decided to use her free time to her advantage so she slipped off her sling bag and set it on the table. She rummaged inside the bag until her hand found what it was searching for. Alice cleared an area of the table, making sure the area was clean of any rice, before unrolling a piece of paper.

The large piece of bond paper was covered in messy notes. Strands of string and sticky notes were placed on the paper in order to explain things in more detail or to show steps. Placed in the center of the large piece of bond paper was a skillfully drawn pistol. Alice hummed to herself as her eyes roamed every inch of the paper. Her hand trailed along the lines of the pistol.

Ace turned his head and arched his dark brows with curiosity. He swiftly shuffled closer to the red-head, peering over Alice's shoulder as she studied the paper. "What's that?" Ace's warm breath fanned Alice's ear as he spoke. Goose flesh littered Alice's bronze arms and the golden skin of her neck tinged pink.

Alice swallowed, disregarding the warmness that spread across her chest like wildfire and wrapped its soft tendrils around her heart, tugging it as if it were a piece of string. "Invention for myself," chocked out Alice, hiding the intended emotions from her expression as she often did.

The freckled commander raised a rice ball to his mouth. The crunching sound of seaweed met Alice's ears as Ace leaned a bit further from her. "Why are you designing a pistol? You can barely use your sword," said Ace.

Alice recognized the humor in his voice and didn't take his words to heart. Alice and Ace often bickered and jabbed insults at each other, it was a normal activity in their relationship, but it was all love at the end of the day. Perhaps it was because of their less than pleasant childhood relationship. When they were young children, Alice and Ace were practically mortal enemies. They likely wouldn't have developed the strong relationship they currently had if not for Luffy.

Unfortunately, the development of the duo's relationship was another story for another day.

"That's funny coming for someone who's never beaten me in a sword fight." Alice smirked smugly.

Ace's chin lifted and he released a breath, a challenging grin plastered on his features. "That's only because I let you win, Red. I thought the East Blue's number one genius would notice my lack of effort," Ace retorted.

Alice peeked at the boy from the corner of her eyes then shrugged, her aura polluted with mock arrogance. "Whatever makes you sleep at night, freckles," Alice spoke with a tone that would rile up just about anyone, except Ace. The freckled pirate simply chortled and placed his elbow on the table.

"To answer you question, I need to find more ways to use my Devil Fruit. So why not design a pistol I could shoot my blood through like bullets." Alice held the bottom of her tilted hand. She straightened her pointer finger and thumb and narrowed her eyes, as if gazing through a sniper scope. She spit out ridiculous sounds that imitated the resound of a gun shooting, then blew on her pointer finger like she had seen actors and actresses execute when smoke drifted from the muzzle of their gun in drama plays and movies. No matter how much Alice disliked her Devil Fruit she would have to live with it, so why not make the most of her burdensome ability?

Ace tousled the girls red hair — much to Alice's distaste — with his hand as a fond smile stretched his cheeks. Alice swatted his hand and shot his a glare. "That's cool, Red," Ace complimented, his dark eyes gleamed with admiration. "But why the pistol? Can't you do that with just your finger like you just did?"

Alice itched the tip of her nose and a hum slipped past her lips. "The pistol would offer better accuracy and increase the speed of the bullets when I shoot..." Alice locked eyes with Ace and tilted her head with an almost sheepish expression. "And, to put it bluntly, it would look ten times cooler." The corners of Alice's eyes crinkled as she laughed alongside Ace.

"How's the actual creating process going?"

"I'm missing the majority of the supplies I need, but other than that, alright I guess."

"Let me see it." Dragging the paper across the wooden surface of the kitchen, Ace grasped the parchment in his hands and raised it to eye level. His lips curled and his eyes narrowed as he read, seemingly digesting the information. In actuality, Ace couldn't perceive not one of the many letters and sentences scrawled throughout the frame of the draft. Alice's writing resembled chicken scratches. It was as if a four-year-old, fresh to the concept of handwriting had decided to get a bit of practice in. "You know, Red... you have awful penmanship."

Alice snatched the paper out of Ace's clutch with swiftness and she sent him a menacing scowl, at which Ace burst into laughter at.

"Cheeky bastard..." Alice uttered under her breath with a pout as she angled her body away from the freckled boy's direction.

― ❈ ―

The anchor of the Going Merry dropped to the bottom of the extensive blue waters of the Sandora River with a heavy splash. The Going Merry floated to a stop in front a sandy shore. Water pushed against the beige sand of the desert in calm waves as a few Straw Hats exited the pirate ship and onto the grainy particles of the strand, beholding the uninhabited dust bowl terrain.

The abrupt halt in their journey towards the desert city of Erumalu was due to princess Vivi wishing to deliver a letter to someone she knew. But, because of the things she must handle and their lengthy expedition towards Yuba, she would send her trusty Super Spot-Billed Duck, Karoo, in her stead (which was a wise idea considering Karoo's speed and species). Karoo was a long-time pet of Vivi's, whom Alice labeled as the most adorable and charismatic duck the red-head knew. Karoo deemed Alice a close friend of his after she complimented him, offering his loyalty and assistance whenever the solo pirate required it. She found Karros determination adorable.

Alice watched as Vivi securely placed the sealed white envelope into a satchel that Karoo carried. Alice and Zoro stood side by side on the Going Merry as the rest of the crew went to see Karoo off. Karoo bobbed his large head at the orders Vivi told him with a determined gleam in his eyes. After a few minutes, Karoo was dashing through the sandy desert and occasionally stopped to drink from his water bottle but afterwards a cloud of dust could be seen as he started his sprint once more.

Alice peered at the green-haired pirate hunter to her right. _'Might as well spark up a conversation,'_ thought the red-head.

"You know, Cactus-kun, I've never seen a swordsman use three swords before." Alice turned her head and tilted it back a bit. She reached to about Zoro's chin in terms of height.

As if on instinct, Zoro's hands held the white hilt of one of his three swords located on his left hip. His jaw flexed and he narrowed his eyes at the short girl. "What did you just call me...?" The olive-toned pirate hunter asked, his voice low and threatening.

Alice ignored Zoro's words and tone. "You must be a good swordsman. Maybe I could learn a few things from you," said Alice rather mindlessly.

As Alice did with Chopper, and since she was unaware of anything personal about Zoro, she was winging the whole getting to know one another stage of a friendship. She observed Zoro throughout the day and noted how he usually kept to himself, using his free time to meditate or train. Actually, during Alice's observance she witnessed Zoro chug a barrel full of sake like it was a refreshing glass of water.

At that exact moment, Alice knew, they were destined to be friends.

She was taking a different approach with their conversation than she did with Chopper. Using a topic she knew Zoro would be interested in: swords.

A crease formed between Zoro's brows and he gave Alice a once over. "You use a sword?" He questioned dubiously, not spotting any sharp objects attached to her.

Alice held her hand out and, at the speed of light, her blood sword unleashed itself after she pricked her thumb. The blood descended like a thick blob of honey and molded into the shape of a blade without Alice batting an eye. "Yup, but.." Alice looked around the boat with a scrutinizing gaze. After seeing that the rest of the pack were still on shore she leaned closer and tip toed to reach Zoro's ear. She whispered. "I'm not that good. Don't tell Ace I said that. I'll never hear the end of it..."

It was somewhat of a lie, what Alice said. Anyone who knew her would say she was gradually starting to master the art of wielding a sword. She downplayed her skill for the sake of where she was going with the conversation. _'It's not like I'm lying. I still have a long way to go.'_ Alice convinced herself as she twisted the sweat coated strap of her wrist watch.

Beats of silence passed, just as the eagles in the sky did. Zoro folded his hands over his chest. "I don't teach," he said dully.

Alice's shoulders slumped. "That's a shame," she feigned a dejected tone. "Old man Mihawk already taught me everything he knew."

Another lie — actually — it was what Alice would call as a twisted truth. She hadn't seen Mihawk in years. The last she saw of the swordsman was when he coincidently bumped into her fathers boat at sea when she was around seven. Just before the Red-Hair pirates one year settlement onto Foosha Village. As a master at guilt tripping and getting what she wanted, Mihawk did indeed teach Alice a few things, after her seven-year-old self begged — on her knees with tears in her eyes — for him to.

_'Too bad he's a Shichibukai. I would have paid him a visit.'_ Small bits of moments that Alice spent with Mihawk played in her mind like a slide show. Despite how young she was at the time, she seemed to recall her training with him as if it were yesterday. _'I doubt he would turn me in to the Marines or World Government though. Most Shichibukai do not care about nor respect the Government, just like the rest of us pirates.' _

Zoro's ears perked up like a dog at the sound of the world's number one swordsman name. "Mihawk...?" Zoro repeated, in a tone uncharacteristically 'hushed' for him.

_'Do they have history with each other?'_ Alice's mentally questioned.

Zoro thought deeply. "You're a pupil of Dracule Mihawk? I thought you said you weren't a good swordswomen." Zoro zoned back into reality from whatever memory his mind replayed and looked at Alice skeptically.

Alice's shoulders bounced with a shrug. "I'm not. To his standards and my own. But then again, my standards are incredibly high," said Alice, hoping Zoro had gotten her sneak compliment for him.

"I'm certainly more brains than I am brawn," admitted Alice mindlessly with a chuckle. Alice sucked in a breath then bit the tip of her tongue and mentally cursed at herself. She had unintentionally revealed a piece of herself that Alice was hoping to keep a secret.

Albeit Alice's unease about letting slip what some might view as a weakness, Zoro smirked. "Alice, huh," he repeated her name with a hint of something Alice guessed was provocation in his tone. He seemed to hold her to a high level of respect now, seeing as she was a pupil of Mihawk. And that inevitably meant, a future opponent on his journey of becoming the best swordsman in the world.

Alice's chest fell as she sighed and grinned in Zoro's direction. "Cactus-kun," she followed his lead.

Zoro's nose flared and his eyes darkened. "Oi!" He shouted at the petite pirate. "It's Zoro!"

Alice found his annoyance comical even though she wasn't calling him Cactus-kun on purpose. "Ah! Sorry, sorry," she waved her hands in the air and laughed. As Zoro calmed down Alice looked at his buff figure from head to toe and nodded in what seemed like approval. "I like you, Toro," she announced suddenly with a grin. "We should have a drink sometime."

"It's Zoro!" The pirate hunter barked. "Zo-ro! Two syllables! It's not that hard!"

For a long while now, Alice thought to make friends and acquaintances was an important role in the life of a pirate. For the past two years of her career as a solo pirate Alice had befriended people of all races, religions, and locations. Alice believed she didn't have any enemies other than the World Government and the people who were affiliated with it. She found life was too short and valuable to get into petty fights with other pirates, and the red-head was much too lazy to harbor such an intense emotion such as hatred for another. Such passion could be utilized to do something beneficial and lucrative.

Alice was very interested in people, the things she could learn from others. It was how she saw the world, and how she grew as a person. After all, every person that Alice had met, knew something (whether big or small) that she didn't.

In spite of that, Alice was aware of the value of privacy. Cultivating her circle and knowing who to let into her life. Only those she truly loved with all her person could sit at her table of life.

If only the red-headed genius knew, that her table would need several more seats for the family she was unintentionally creating.


	10. C h a p t e r E i g h t

― ❈ ―

_'Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected.'_

― ❈ ―

**ALICE **laid on the large head of the Going Merry, exposing herself to the deadly sun as she bathed in its intense rays.

She paid no attention to her complexion that began to turn a darker shade, accentuating the faint brown freckles littering her skin. Her hands cupped the back of her head as her knees pointed skyward, her eyes shut with the exertion of fatigue as slumber gradually crept onto her like a spider advancing on its meal stuck in the soft linings of it's woven web. The web, in that case, being Alice's sloth and dislike for strenuous movements.

Albeit Alices unreasonable exhaustion, she couldn't find it in her to let sleep consume her, at least not at that moment. It seemed she had become a topic of discussion in a conversation between two young ladies.

Alice's ears — sun burnt at the tips — twitched. Her second sense came alive as she eavesdropped and having no shame for doing so as well.

Nami and the princess of Alabasta stood by the white railing of the Going Merry. They weren't too far from the Alice, though, from the way they spoke so freely about the red-head they must have not been aware that she was close by, hidden on the large sheep head of the ship as it drifted pleasantly.

"So, what do you think of her?" Alice distinguished the sharp and high toned voice of Nami's. Nami sat on Going Merry's railing, her short orange locks followed the drift of the wind as she gazed at the blue painted sky, which resembled the hue of the strands falling from Vivi's head. "Alice, I mean," she added.

Vivi pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, twiddling her fingers as she thought of the scientist. They had only spoken a few times, so all Vivi had to judge about her was from the way she interacted with everyone else and the already countless times Luffy had raved about her. Karoo seemed to adore Alice, having warmed up to her quite fast after she had complimented him. "Oh, um..." Vivi placed a hand on her cheek, picturing the red head's viper like gaze. "She's unique..." Vivi responded.

Alice smiled to herself, detecting the uneasyness in Vivi's tone. Alice would take unique.

"B-But she seems nice!" Vivi shouted a bit too loud, she could see by the gaze Nami gave the princess that perhaps calling one unique didn't sound like much of a compliment. "She did save us from the Baroque Works earlier."

Nami hummed in understanding, seemingly agreeing with Vivi. "Chopper hasn't been able to stop praising her. Something similar to 'being happy to have a scientist on board' so they could discuss about whatever a scientist and a doctor in a room talk about."

Nami recalled her conversation with Chopper a while earlier, after he and Alice had departed. She strolled into his room to see the boys dark eyes filled with joy as he sat on his stool, his legs swaying to a fro with a gleeful smile on his face. When she questioned what got him into a good mood, (she initially suspected that he had gotten a bag of sweets from Zoro or, perhaps, Sanji) he delightfully explained his encounter with Alice and all the marvelous things they spoke of. How they had planned to work on a collection of products and creations, and her infinite range of knowledge. Chopper appeared to greatly admire Alice, despite only having known her for less than five hours.

Vivi blinked and tilted her head. "...Do you not like her?" She questioned innocently.

Alice lifted her brows in curiosity, intrigued with how Nami would respond. It wasn't as if Alice cared if the female liked her, (at least, she kept telling herself that) however, Alice believed she hadn't given Nami a real reason to dislike her.

Nami's eyes rounded and she nearly received whiplash the way her head rounded to meet the princess' gaze. "What?! I-I never said that!" She sputtered quickly, nearly plunging into the water as she jumped in surprise. Nami collected herself as Vivi's sweet chuckles filled the air. "S-She seems... fine," Nami admitted. "Something just feels... off about her, I guess." The navigator sighed as she slid from the railing and faced the waters like her friend beside her.

Nami was intelligent; more intelligent then most would give her credit for. As Alice pranced throughout the boat, minding her business and conversing with the Straw Hats, Nami received a sense of unnaturalness about the scientist aura. As if Alice were playing a part.

Nami saw when Alice spoke to Ace and Luffy, (if one really focused on Alice analytically and with a sharp eye) it was as if Alice were a different person than she was around others. It might be because the red-head had yet become comfortable around the Straw Hats, but Nami knew a mask so perfectly portrayed wouldn't be put on as fluidly and naturally as Alice.

Alice situated herself behind the two women, who've yet to notice that the one they had been talking about was only a few centimeters behind them. Alice thought it best to now grace them with her presence, especially before the conversation took too much of a serious turn.

After all, if one must explain a magic trick, one should do so after the show was over. And for the Straw Hats, the show had just begun!

Alice smirked. "You know," Alice started, her voice dripping with amusement. Nami and Vivi appeared as if they had been stuck with lightning. Their spines straightened and Alice saw the visible goosebumps now dotting their skin. "If you're gonna' talk behind someone's back, it'd be wise to make sure they were far enough to not hear."

"HEEE!" Nami and Vivi's eye's practically bulged out of their sockets as they latched onto each other and shrieked. Alice blinked at the high pitch of their voices, however, she found mirth in the fact that she had yet again nearly made someone jump out of their skin by surprising them with her sudden presence. Alice giggled.

The hairs on Nami's neck stood up as she pointed to Alice who she had just materialized out of no where behind then. "W-Whe-n?! Y-You were just-?!" She stammered, attempting to understand how Alice magically appeared out of thin air. To no avail of course.

"What do you mean? I've been here the entire time," Alice answered innocently, toying with the navigator. "I'm kidding. I was resting on the sheep's head and just happened to have a solid sense of hearing." She pointed to the front of the boat then shrugged.

Vivi gasped to herself, just now recovering from Alice's appearance. Her doe-like eyes gleamed with guilt. "S-Sorry! We didn't mean to talk behind your back-!"

Alice silenced the princess with a hand, a small smile on her face. "Don't worry 'bout it princess." She shrugged, not at all angry or offended by the harmless conversation they had about her, they would be stupid not to question someone like Alice. They barely knew her, suspicion about her character was something Alice knew was to come. After all, at first glance, Alice wasn't someone who one could easily trust. "I've been a pirate for quite sometime now. Judgment from others is something I'm quite familiar with," Alice admitted nonchalantly, placing her hands in the fold of her pocket and rocking her feet back and forth.

Vivi and Nami lowered their heads as a deafening silence loomed over the heads of the three female pirates. Even though Alice had reassured them that she wasn't angry with them they couldn't help but become guilty. She was the close friend of their captain for goodness sakes! Luffy had saved both Vivi and Nami on multiple occasions, the least they could do was get to know the women the straw hat wearing pirate vowed to marry before judging her.

Vivi gazed behind her, awing at the stretch of blue water that seemed to encompass them with an infinite circumference. In the distance she detailed the outline of a shore, instantly she knew it was the coast of Erumalu, the location that would start their voyage to Yuba.

"W-We should get ready for our journey!" the princess of Alabasta announced suddenly, disrupting the uncomfortable quietness. "Come with us Alice-san, you can change with Nami and I!"

Alice ceased her rocking and lifted a brow at Vivi, whose expression remained bright. Alice shook her head and released a few chuckles. "That really isn't necessary-" her attempts of kindly omitting herself seemed to have reached deaf ears.

Vivi grabbed a hold of Nami's hands and turned into the direction where the bedrooms were located. She gave Alice a kind smile. "No, it's no problem really! I might have some clothing that might fit you." She beckoned the red-head.

Alice refrained from sighing in exasperation. She didn't know what it was, but she felt as though she couldn't refuse the princess' request, especially not with her innocent smile and her wide eyes that shined with only the purest intentions. Alice hesitated for a moment, it was obvious that Vivi wanted to make up for speaking about the scientist behind her back, although, Alice didn't know how changing together would disperse her nonexistent anger. Nonetheless, Alice gave in. Why not?

"Alright."

― ❈ ―

_'This has been about as uncomfortable and unusual a situation I could ever imagine.'_ Alice studied her reflection as she sat cross-legged on the white satin cushion seat situated just under Nami's white vanity. Alice ran her tongue across her bottom lip, wetting the chapped surface with saliva.

Alice had found herself in the mix of a few unusual situations in her nineteen years of living. Like that one time Alice had saved a woman from a few bandits on a random island she had sought refugee on for a week. Unbeknownst to Alice, the women had been the daughter of a king and the princess had mistook the red-head for a man. Thus prompting a spiral of literal mess as the princess wished to marry Alice for she had fallen in love with her rescuer.

Luckily, Alice had gotten out of the complicated situation with her quick and abrupt departure from the island. Although chaotic and complex, the story of Alice's mis-gender and almost engagement to a princess made for a humorous story to tell at gatherings.

Ace nearly coughed out a lung when she explained the story to him.

"Are you alright Alice-san? Are the robes too small or big for you?"

Alice nearly jumped at the sound of Vivi's voice. She and Nami, both in the middle of changing into robes fit to fend them from the scorching rays of the desert sun, had regarded the still scientist with inquisitive gazes. They had noticed how silent Alice had been, and they found her quietness unusual and a bit unnerving. From what they had discerned, Alice's character was far from shy or discreet. No, no, they would find it odd for her to be a timid person with a best friend like Luffy. They knew Alice to be charismatic, so they were concerned to see the blank expression painted on her face as she distantly stared at her reflection.

Alice released a forced laugh. "Yeah! I'm fine. Also, its a bit too big." Alice lifted the robe she had forgotten was placed on her lap and hung it in front of her body. The fabric seemed to nearly swallow her body up. "I have the stature of a fifteen-year-old boy after all," said Alice, garnering a few laughs from Vivi and Nami.

See, Alice, in all her nineteen years of living never had close female friends.

Don't misunderstand her though, she had plenty female acquaintances, all of which were only business related relationships.

Growing up she never noticed how different her life was from the average girl. She didn't notice that other girls' fathers weren't infamous pirates, that living on a ship wasn't exactly common, or that being able to shoot a gun before the age of seven was out of the ordinary. Girl's her age thought that being wanted and chased by the Marines was frightening, not a game of tag that Alice thought was one of the most entertaining games in the world.

Alice had tried befriending some girls her age during her adolescent years, though, she never could find herself building a connection. In general, ninety-percent of Alice's relationships were created from a bed of dishonesty (or twisted-truths). For she had only manipulated them into thinking they were close friends for her own gain.

While some girls wanted to pick flowers and create crowns with them, Alice much preferred training, or reading a book far beyond her age level. Alice never cared much — that all of her close friends were male — for she saw both men and women as equals and that ones gender shouldn't omit them from having close friends of the opposite sex. However, it would be naive of Alice to say that friendships with a male was the same as with a women. In their world, it definitely was not.

Alice had once come close to having a true girl-friend. It felt like years ago, and Alice barely remembered _her_ but she was aware of the way she felt around _her_. The girl was more so like a younger sister; someone Alice wanted to nurture and raise. _She_ knew Alice through and through, and vice versa. _She_ overlooked Alice's broken fence and admired the flowers in her garden.

But like most of the red-heads bonds, theirs ended in despair and anguish.

Alice scoffed at her sudden mental vulnerability. The patchy memories of _her_ gave Alice a headache.

"Here." Alice threw the robe at Nami. "Let's switch, Tangerine-kun."

Nami blinked in surprise. "Tangerine-kun?" she repeated the nickname, dumbstruck.

Alice nodded. "Your hair is orange and you seem to like tangerines," she explained. All the nicknames Alice gave to people had something to do with them personally, a physical feature usually. Like Alice's friend Marco, whom she took the liberty to nickname 'Pineapple head' for his hair that only grew in long strands from his crown, leaving the sides and back of his head bald. Though, lately Alice had begun to call him grandpa after he recently celebrated his forty-third birthday. Despite him being one of the closest people to her, Marco was old enough to be Alice's father and she never missed on an opportunity to tell him that, to Marcos displeasure of course.

Nami's mouth parted and her brows lifted with slight shock. "How did you know that?"

"Umm," Alice hesitated before answering. "There are a couple of gardening books layin' around." True to the scientists words, multiple books laid around Nami's medium sized room. One with a bold title reading '_The Vegetable Gardener's Bible'_ and another which made Alice certain Nami was interested in growing Tangerines, was the large book placed on her neatly made bed titled '_Growing Cirtus'_' with a large Tangerine adorning its cover.

"I can smell the faint scent of tangerines," Alice further explained. "And in the garbage by the vanity, there are a few tangerine peels in there. Last but not least, the picture there. You all seem to be behind a few tangerine trees..." Alice pointed to the picture frame on Nami's desk. The picture depicted a young Nami in the arms of a women. On the other woman's side was a blue haired girl, with an appearance similar to Nami's. All in all, Alice could practically feel the love between the three exuding from just the picture. "Aaannnddd I'm starting to sound creepy."

Alice ceased her talking once she saw the expressions on the two females faces. Nami's eyes were round and Vivi's jaw had become unhinged. Alice was too observant for her own good, and sometimes she forgot that not all people noticed the minuscule details she did. Alice sighed, Nami probably thought she was creepy now and was weary of her presence. Alice prepared herself for Nami to usher the red-head out of her room.

"Wow, you're sharp!" Alice's eyes rounded as Nami exclaimed. The orange haired navigator regarded Alice with awe filled eyes, if Alice didn't know any better, she would say that Nami appeared impressed by Alice's accurate and informative claims. At Nami's side, Vivi nodded with agreement at Nami's words. "You haven't been in here for a full fifteen minutes and you've already discovered all of that," Nami further explained before standing up and striding to Alice.

The look in Nami's eyes switched in a split second, one full of mischief and greed. "Say, your probably good at finding things that are hidden. Perhaps — maybe, and this is just an example... money."

Alice deadpanned as Nami's whole demeanor seemed to glow at the mention of money. Alice actually thought she saw the navigator begin to drool.

For the first time in a long while, Alice was shocked. She did not expect that in the slightest bit. Alice held the small robe in her hand as Nami and Vivi fell into an animated conversation. Alice glanced at them, studying them as if they were something irregular. They hadn't told her to leave, or that she was weird, they complimented her, (Nami even discreetly inviting her into a heist) also, they seemed even more comfortable around Alice. Alice sighed, attempting to ignore the spark of joy and delight in her chest.

A soft smile unconsciously pulled Alice's lips upwards as she began to undress.

― ❈ ―

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

The sun bathed the ship in gold as it was pulled to a halt, it dazzled in the sky, reflecting its glow onto the crystal blue waters.

Alice's hand sat on her hip as she leaned on her leg, her expression teetering between amused and exasperation from her position on the Going Merry's hull.

"My heart!" Alice blinked as Sanji shouted out dramatically, falling backwards with happy tears in his eyes. "You look like a fallen angel from heaven Alice-chwan!" Sanji's eyes were wide with adoration as he danced around himself, repeatedly complimenting Alice and shooting her hearts like he were a mad man in love. "I am blessed to behold such beauty!"

In front of Alice, all in a single file line stood the Straw Hats and Ace. They regarded Alice with different variations of a flabbergasted expression. They had been staring at the red-head for a good minute now, Alice had been counting before she got bored of their inquisitive looks and spoke to them. Her husky voice and the entertained ring to her words snapped them out of their trance. Some of the males begun to cough as warmth flushed their cheeks. Alice's fox-like grin only grew wider, for she knew what about her appearance suddenly shocked them into silence.

Alice's hands interlocked at the back of her head as she strode in the direction of the group, particularly Ace and Luffy. Ace's eyes were wide and he gulped as Alice stood in before him. "Who are you and what have you done with Alice?" He chuckled, running his eyes up and down Alice's figure. Ace found it slightly unbelievable that Alice allowed Nami and Vivi to change her appearance, and the fact that Alice genuinely seemed to not mind the change. Alice never warmed up to people as fast as she did with Nami and Vivi.

"I guess Nami's and Vivi's make over was successful." The corners of Alice's eyes crinkled as she laughed. "Amazing what one shower can accomplish," she joked.

Alice had a make over? One might ask, indeed she did, despite how unbelievable that sentence may seem. Initially the red-head was weary when the princess and navigator suggested it. They marveled at the shade of Alice's hair, and told her about how long and unkempt the lump of mane was. Alice agreed with them. She never took care of her hair, or herself. If she were going to be honest, Alice actually couldn't remember the last time she had taken a shower, too cooped up in her office working. She feared that if she left her room for even a moment she would begin to procrastinate, or her thoughts would escape her. Without the many colorful hair accessories hidden in Alice hair, her bangs reached her nose and the hair touching her shoulders were what Alice called 'the land of split ends'.

After a few moments of pondering, Alice agreed to Nami and Vivi's idea of a make over, which surprised even herself. She usually never let anyone touch her hair or alter her appearance, for Alice never cared about the latter and she didn't want anyone making the former more messy than it already appeared. However, as Nami brushed through her hair and Vivi spoke about a plethora of hair styles that would suit Alice, the scientist felt a bubble of excitement arise in her. It was a new experience, something she had never done with her male pirate friends for they cared as much about their appearance as Alice.

_'Is this what its like to have girl-friends?' _Thought Alice at the time, as Vivi began chopping sections of her hair and Nami spoke to Alice, laughing at the red-heads bizarre jokes. If it was, Alice would admit... she didn't exactly hate it.

"You look amazing ..."Ace marveled, trying to suppress the blush on his cheeks from growing after realizing how awestruck he was. Ace took a small step back, coughing in his hand as he avoided Alice's all knowing gaze. "I mean - er - y-you know... more like a girl,"Ace added on quickly with a regular teasing chortle. He hoped his expression would hide the fact that his heart wasn't racing at a normal pace. Only Alice could make him act so uncharacteristically.

Alice rolled her eyes with a smile. "You're acting as if I weren't one all along," she snorted with a slight edge to her voice.

Alice turned to look at her favorite wannabe Pirate King. Luffy had been quiet ever since Alice come out of Nami's room, which Alice found very peculiar. Luffy? Quiet? Never. Even thinking about the two words in the same sentence caused Alice to chuckle. "Whatdaya' think of the look, Smiles?"

Luffy regarded Alice with a blank expression. He then pursed his lips, rubbing his chin in thought as he surveyed the product of Vivi's and Nami's boredom.

Alice's regularly tousled hair hand been trimmed and styled. Her red strands sweeped to the sides of her face, with a new hair part at the side. Her hair now stopped at her ears, rather then her shoulders like before; with the addition of nicley cut layers. Her hidden forehead was now revealed to the world, finally seeing the light of day and the mane laid in place with hair spray. Luffy couldn't see not one hair clip - the same hair clips he loved clipping and playing with - on her head. Alice had also taken a shower, Luffy clearly discerned that by the way her skin seemed to glow and the flush of color to her cheeks.

Luffy leaned forward, taking a long sniff of Alice before sneezing. She smelt of flowers in spring, sweet and delicate. The scent pierced through his nose, so overwhelming and pungent to the point that he felt it in his chest.

It was disgusting.

Her chapped lips had been moisturized, and long dangly earrings adorned her earlobes. Ace was right, she did look more girly.

Luffy crossed his arms and huffed with dissatisfaction. "I don't like it," he admitted bluntly.

Alice blinked, shoving her hands in the pockets of her white and blue robe. "Huh, why not?" Alice questioned as she rocked on the heels of her feet.

"You don't look like _my_ Alice." Luffy pouted childishly. Alice's lips twisted into a grin and she shook her head with a roll of her eyes. Of course that was the reason Luffy disliked her new look.

"I have to agree with Luffy," said Ace. "The look ain't you Red." Although he said that Alice looked amazing - which she did - the look just wasn't Alice, if that made any sense. Alice didn't wear mascara because she rubbed her eyes too often when her contacts started to itch. Alice didn't wear earings because when she was in her lab they could potentially entangle in machinery. Alice favored effecient and comfortable, and was perfectly content with herslef.

'_They know me so well,_' Alice thought, the notion making her feel fuzzy inside. Alice unzipped her side bag which she had tied around her middle like a fanny pack. With a clutched fist she pulled out a couple colorful and bizzare hair pins. She wildly shook her head, running her hands through them in order to unlatch the hold of hairspray. Alice's hair returned to its tousled state. Strands stood straight, some folding in odd angles and others coiling under the sudden disarray. Alice smirked in Luffy's direction as she began clipping in a few hair accessories in random places, and she noticed how shorter her hair felt as she ran a final hand through it.

Alice unclipped the long earrings that brushed the top of her shoulders. For a minute, she debated throwing them away but after reflecting on it, the red-head instead placed them into her bag. They were a gift from Vivi and quite pretty, Alice would keep it in memory of her favorite princess.

"How 'bout now?" Alice placed her hands at her sides and focused on the reactions of her friends.

Luffy hummed in thought, looking at Alice as if he were a art critique analyzing a painting in a museum. "Almost there. You still have that black stuff around you eyes... Does it feel heavy?" Alice swatted Luffy's hands before the boy could go pinching her elongated eyelashes and smudge the skinny line of eyeliner. "Ow! I was just curious..." Luffy shot the red-head a glare as he pulled a face and muttered. He retracted back his hand and cradled it as if it were a wounded animal.

Alice put off correcting Luffy that the black stuff around her eyes was indeed mascara, and instead pulled out a makeup remover from what seemed like thin air. She brushed the fabric along her eyes. "Satisfied now, Smiles? Freckles?" Although Alice enjoyed the time she spent chatting and 'cleaning' up her appearance with Nami and Vivi, the last thing Alice cared about was what she looked like.

Beyond everything, being unorthodox was kinda' Alice's thing.

Ace's eyes formed crescents as he grinned and thumbs up in approval.

"There's my Red!" Luffy shouted eccentrically. His hands flung in the air before wrapping themselves over Alice's shoulders. Alice slung her hand over the boys shoulder with a grin as he turned them around and faced his crew.

"Okay, guys! Let's land!"

― ❈ ―

Alice didn't favor violent animals.

Most who knew Alice were aware of that fact. Having her adolecent years spent in the mountains of Colubo, a heavily-forested, low-haning area that rested behind the small port villiage of Foosha, Alice had her fair share of training against atrocious animals four times her size. She also lived amongst mountain bandits who she choose to group as brute animals in their own right. Thus, as Alice studied the so called Kung Fu Dugongs, as Vivi claimed them to be, she couldn't help but release and exasperated sigh at how such cute features went to waste being placed on an aggressive species.

Alice swung her legs back and forth and observed the army of seals glaring at the occupants of the Going Merry. They were small, only reaching about Alice's knee and were fashioned in pine colored vests. They had overly serious expressions, but their large chubby cheeks only made their attempt at intimidation seem a bit too forced.

"'If you want to come on shore you'll have to beat me first! Or else go back to the other shore, cowards!' Is what he said." Chopper translated the seals aggressive words.

Although Alice needed no translation, being as another peculiarity of hers was her ability to communicate with animals. Something Alice kept to her self of course. She didn't want to seem more crazy then she already was, and it saved her from having to answer questions such as 'how' and 'when', all of which she literally had now clue how to respond to.

Their guess was as good as hers.

From Alice's left she heard Usopp release an insulted 'humph'. The tanned sniper crossed his hands and leaned against the railing; and with a glare he said: "I can't sit quietly when someone calls me a coward! Let's do it." Before anyone could stop the boy, Usopp had jumped off the railing of the boat, determined to win against the Kung Fu Dugongs.

Alice had never seen Usopp fight. Perhaps he had inherited the shooting ability of his infamous pirate father. With hope, Alice watched closely the son of her fathers comrade roll up his sleeves and march towards the seals.

"Wait! Usopp-san!" Vivi yelled, but it was too late. It seemed Alice's guess was very much wrong.

Within seconds - as soon as Alice blinked - the curly haired teen flopped onto the dusty surface of the desert sand with bruises. Usopp released a pathetic moan of pain as his eyes spun.

Alice clutched her stomach and roared in laughter, nearly falling on the wooden suface of the hull as her head flew back. Tears prickled the corners of her eyes. "H-How did you - ha! - ge-get your ass kicked by a couple of seals?!" Alice struggled to say, her cheeks cherry red as her breathing shallowed and her chuckles gradually ceased.

"Kung Fu Dugongs are strong!" Vivi shouted with exasperation.

Alice felt a hand land on her shoulder and she turned her head to meet the excited gaze of Luffy. The boy cocked his head in the direction of the seals and instantly Alice knew his intentions. Of course Luffy would want to fight the creatures, and of course Alice would join him.

The two jumped off the railing and Luffy went into action. Alice on the other hand had no intentions of using her strength.

The seals gathered around Alice with their flaps in the air, ready to lay a punch on the red head. Albeit, before they could march in her direction every seal surrounding Alice paused, their eyes flying open as a chilling sensation ran down their spine. A few strands of Alice's crimson locks fell in front of her face and it only added to her frightening demeanor as she unleashed just a fraction of her bloodlust. The atmosphere around them instantly became pressurized, and the seals could physically sense that her strength was far superior to theirs.

Alice straightened and a smirk found its place on her features.

"I win!" Luffy shouted in a pool of beaten seals.

"Me too!" The red-head waved into the air with an innocent grin.

Vivi's head fell and she sighed. "Winning is bad too!"

― ❈ ―

"Come on, Red, turn that frown upside down." Ace shook his head with a smile, regarding Alice who had been sulking like a puppy that had been scolded. He found the way her bottom lip jutted into pout nothing but adorable.

"They could have come with us, I would have taken care of 'em." Alice grumbled with corssed arms, glancing back at the Kung Fu Dungongs who remained by the shore happily munching on the meat they got from Chopper as well as rice cakes that Sanji made for them. Alice's heart warmed as she recalled the expressions of the seals once she retracted her bloodlust. Their eyes sparkled with pure admiration as they flooded her ears with compliments.

"It's Kung Fu Dungong rule that if someone loses, they become the winners pupil!" Vivi had earlier explained the cause of the looks Luffy and Alice were receving from the animals.

Instantly taken by the creatures, Luffy had begun to conduct a short martial arts training class whilst Alice took pictures of the adorable animals.

Though, their fun only lasted for a moment as they had to start their journey across the desert. Alice, with her heart not wanting to depart with the creatures so soon, made no move to tell the seals not to follow them, not willing to confront the relaization that there was no way the seals could come on their voyage through the desert with them. Thus, after offering them some food the Dungongs agreed to stay by the ship. It seemed that food was the only thing that could sway their loyalty.

"Alice, we both know that wasn't possible." Ace sweat-dropped at her childishness. Alice sighed and nodded in agreement, getting over the seals rather fast.

Sand stuck itself under the crooks of Alice's shoes as her sandals sank into the dense desert biome. With every step she took, she left an imprint of her shoes in her wake, which would soon be swallowed by the endless grains that would blow off the dunes.

The dry desert biome was not a place Alice would want to live. The lack of precipitation as well as the hot climate was hostile for animals and plants. Alice was now experiencing the heat first hand. It hadn't even been forty minutes since she left the boat but she could feel herself melting and her lips becoming chapped.

Alice lifted a brow as everyone began to pick up their pace. She craned her next to see the outline of what seemed to be a city in the distance. Alice found the discovery quite convenient. If there was a city nearby she could stock up on supplies and seek refuge from this heat. But as she neared, she saw parts of damaged houses scattered everywhere and the sand seemed to eat up most of the city.

If someone were to tell Alice that the city was hit by a natural disaster, she would believe them. The houses that once stood tall were now dispersed around the city, cracked and demolished. The trees that remained standing were bare, brittle, and lifeless. The ghost city sucked the joy out of Alice with its depressive ambience.

"What's this?" Alice head sweeped around the area. She approched a chunk of concrete which the sand had almost finished swallowing. She tapped her shoe against it, and instantly the one firm material deteriorated into fine blocks of rubble.

"Is this the town of Yuba?" Luffy questioned.

Vivi shook her head solemnly. Alice noticed the shadow of saddness that consumed her regulary bright personality. "No, this is Erumalu. It used to be known as the City of Green..." Vivi corrected.

"City of Green?" Someone whispered as the group began to further treck into the demolished city.

"The sight of this town explains everything. What the Baroque Works organization has done to this country. What the people of Alabasta are going through." Vivi balled her fist. It was obvious that Alabasta and its people meant a lot to her. She'd gone through great lengths to try and prevent Alabasta, a place of peace, from becoming a war zone.

"Wow! There's nothing here at all!" Luffy awed.

"Yes, it's a ghost town now.." Vivi continued. Alice couldn't believe how a city that was thriving and green, full of people and animals could become so deserted and damaged. Alice's jaw clenched, but she did well to hide her aggravation. She knew first hand the struggle of having to find a new home and people coming to take her own.

"Never in the thousand years of Alabasta's history, has the rain stopped completely," Vivi stated, easing into what Alice knew to be a brief history lesson. "But there was one place where the rain fell more than usual. Alubarna, the capital. The city with the king's palace, the people called it the kings miracle, until what happened that day, at least.."

Not too long ago, one regular scorching day in Alabasta, men were making a delivery for the king, but suddenly the cart which was carrying two large bags of green powder, broke. The green powder spilt, spreading a large sum of it onto the floor.

"Dancing powder." Nami mumbled.

"Dancing powder?" Luffy questioned out loud.

"Yes, it's also known as Rain-Summoning Powder',"Nami said.

Alice hummed in thought, "I think I've heard of that."

"I'd only heard stories about it, but a researcher in a country, where it doesn't rain created it. By creating a misty smoke from it and letting it rise into the sky, you can artificially cause it to rain. That's what dance powder is. " Nami answered everyone's curiosity. Alice glanced at Nami, impressed by her knowledge of powder. But she expected no less from a navigator.

"In a place like this, it was smart for the king to use it." Alice added on, stepping over a piece of rubble.

"Oh! I get it! You mean that mysterious powder? I ate some a while back! It tasted really bad!" Luffy chuckled.

"It isn't food." Nami walked passed Luffy.

"It's for making rain." Zoro also walked passed Luffy.

"What?! You think I'm lying don't you?! Hey, you!" Luffy wailed his arms in anger.

"Back to what Alice said, wouldn't something like that be perfect for this country?" Usopp asked, ignoring Luffy's shouts just like the rest of the group.

Luffy pouted as he drew in the sand. He wanted to be apart of the conversation but no one would listen or believe him. Alice approached the sad teen and crouched to his level.

"Come on Luffy, I believe you." She patted his head, like how a mother would do to her child to raise their spirts.

Luffy glanced up at Alice and soon his frown was replaced with a grin. "I knew you would believe me." Alice shook her head as she saw the boy skip away with a bright smile.

As long as Alice believed him, he didn't need any other persons confirmation.

― ❈ ―

_**PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS, THEY MOTIVATE ME TREMENDOUSLY! **_❤️


	11. C h a p t e r N i n e

_― _❈_ ―_

**_'An inability to stay quiet is one of the conspicuous failings of mankind.'_**

_― _❈_ ―_

**ALICE** chewed on the bottom of her chapped lip, her mouth just as dry and desiccated as the withering landscape that had comprised the group of nine excursion travelers in its deadly biome. Her fingers held a small novel in her grasp, it pages detailing information Alice had perused once before.

Alice could gradually feel her sanity wither away, as the heat penetrated through her skull and into her brain. She could not handle extreme heat; Alice never could. However, the young scientist had a goal, a plan that she was very dead set on accomplishing.

Blackbeard deserved to rot in hell (preferably) for what he did; and no heat or discomfort Alice endured would stray her from enacting her retribution.

To hell with inner peace, or being the bigger person. The notion made Alice roll her eyes. Sooner or later, everyone comes to sit down to a banquet of consequences for the sins they commit.

Blackbeard's was Bloody Alice.

"Can you at least pretend to care about the conversation going on?"

Despite the heat, a chill traveled down Alice's spine, just like the sweat that advanced down her temple similar to a rain drop slipping down the spine of a leaf on a rainy day. Rain. Alice could not help but sigh with bliss at just the thought of precipitation pelting down upon her blistering skin, soothing her sunburns.

Alice glanced upward from her novel at the only person in the world who could cause her body to react in such a way with just a few words. Who could prompt the tenderness of flowers blooming in her chest. She smirked, her indigo eyes bright and alive, revealing some of the fire stored in her soul.

Alice placed a lovely smile on her face, her theatrical personality coming alive. "Anything for you, Freckles." The red-head poked her pointer finger onto Ace's nose. "Boop." Before skipping off to Luffy's side, who stood in the center of the traveling pack of pirates. Ace viewed the red-head with a lift of his brow, then shrugged at her behavior. It was Alice after all, questioning her actions would only result in a plethora of other queries arising. It was like asking why a dog barked... it just did.

Luffy's eyes widened slightly as he felt an arm loop into his. He turned his head and was pleasantly met with the smirking face of his 'fiance', and thus, an instant smile pulled the corners of his lips. Albeit dangerously hot and barren, the thought of releasing Alice's hold on him didn't cross his mind. Any contact from Alice he would gladly accept with a grin, and a subconsciously rising pulse.

"... However, there was a big catch: the neighboring country had a drought," Nami spoke as Alice attempted to suppress a yawn. Alice was well versed about the Dance Powder and its effects. Time ago Alice could remember having a sum of the powder in her inventory. Now that she thought about it, the scientist had unthinkably gifted it to someone when she was spring cleaning her laboratory. Though, it wouldn't be the first time Alice donated a lethal item.

"Dance powder quickly and artificially matured clouds, that would normally grow into rain clouds further downwind and cause them to rain."

"It steals the rain that would've normally gone to a neighboring country!" Usopp exclaimed.

"If I remember correctly, war broke out between the two countries. Ever since, the World Government has put a ban on the procession and production of Dance Powder," Alice inputted dryly. "Not that their law ever stopped anyone from trying." Alice chuckled. If she really wanted, one request to a friend in the underworld and Alice could receive the powder in her grasp before dawn.

"A powder which can bring both happiness and dread when used." Alice tuned in, mildly interested as Vivi went farther into detail how the Dance Powder had brought upon misfortune to those living in the desert habitat. As the bliss of constant precipitation ensued, the City of Green experienced a weather phenomenon. The citizens were rightfully enraged at the lack of rain falling from the sky. They barely survived the day with the water that was stored and quickly diminishing every hour. They were on the brink of dehydration while the town which held the castle of the King had been granted an abundant amount of rainfall.

"Hold on Vivi! That means your dad is the bad guy here!" Luffy pointed his finger accusingly at Vivi. Feeling the alter in demeanor from Sanji, Alice withdrew her hand from Luffy's. The boy pouted but Alice knew his sadness would be short-lived.

"Idiot!" Roared Sanji, swiftly hitting Luffy on the head with his foot. "He was framed! Vivi-chan's dad would never do such a thing! Never! Never! Never!" Sanji continued, hitting Luffy on the head repeatedly. A human game of Whack-a-mole, thought Alice humorously.

To put an end to Luffy's assault, Vivi further explained that her father wasn't the cause of it, but around the same time bags of Dance Powder were found at his palace and the distrust in the king continued.

The king was framed.

Without the red-head's notice, Alice had unconsciously winded back to the side of her travel companion. The group continued to advance in their desired direction and a relaxing silence had befell them. That was until Chopper had spotted a long, deep ditch in the distance. "What's this road, Vivi-chan?" The boy asked innocently.

The princess squinted into the distance then solemnly answered. "This was a canal that was used to bring in water from the Sandora River. Someone destroyed this canal, too. With this canal gone, the City of Green could no longer secure water." Alice watched as Chopper walked towards a nearby water well and dropped a rock inside it. There was an echo as the rock hit the bottom of it.

_'A man made curse - drought,'_ thought Alice, uncharacteristically empathetic towards not only the people of the city but Vivi and the king as well. Alice glanced around the city. "As if praying, the people continued to wait, but rain never came, huh?" She spoke._'Crocodile is one awful guy,' _Alice surmised to herself as Vivi mentioned that the people in the city left as soon as the war began.

"And then, the City of Green withered away..." As Vivi finished, the sand on the ground started to blow in their direction. The group of pirates became quiet as a deep horn sound resonated around them.

"Huh? Is that someones voice?" Nami questioned.

"Is it the rebel army?"

"Don't tell me the Baroque Works have been following us?!" Usopp gulped.

Alice frowned, bringing her hand to her lip as she began to focus on the odd sound that appeared not to come from all directions. The horn continued, only increasing its volume. "Nah, I think it's just the wind," said Alice nonchalantly, though, her words did nothing to ease any of the Straw Hats nerves.

"It has to be someone's voice!" Luffy shouted over the noise, locking eyes with Alice.

"It's coming from all directions," Usopp's voice shook and his brown eyes glanced around himself anxiously. Usopp's breathing became ragged as he stared at Ace and Alice hopefully. "What do we do, big brother? Sister-in-law?" The teen pleaded.

A look of horror washed onto Alice's face at his choice of words.

Ace sighed at the boys fear, knowing someone who could become just like him in certain situations. "There's no danger. It's just wind blowing across the town and echoing off the old buildings." Ace assured.

"Or," Alice drew out, smirking impishly as she lazily put an arm over Usopps shoulder. The boy jumped at the contact, gulping as Alice's viper like gaze settled onto him. Despite her stature (which Luffy told his entire crew never to mention if Alice were in the vicinity to hear) Usopp felt small under the pressure of her aura.

"It could be the angry ghosts of this city that want us gone from their territory." Alice whispered frighteningly into Usopp's ear. The colour drained from his face and Usopp jumped into the air like a cat that just got its tail stepped on. He ran and hid behind Nami, who attempted to move away from him with an annoyed expression.

Alice held her stomach as she laughed quietly with tears at the corners of her eyes. _'It never gets old,'_ she sighed blissfully.

"It's as if... it's as if the City of Erumalu is crying.." Vivi whispered.

"Here it comes!"

Too busy planning the other pranks Alice could perform on the Straw Hats, Alice hadn't the time to prepare for the wind that had been so close to pushing her off her feet... if not for Ace protectively latching onto her and shielding her from the pressure of the short-lived storm. Alice shut her eyes as the gust of wind nearly flew the clips out of her hair.

After a quick few seconds the wind stopped. The air stilled into silence, and finally Alice could hear her thoughts. As Alice fluttered her eyes open, Ace's onyx eyes stared at her and for a moment she felt hypnotized.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked softly, breaking eye contact with the scientist as his eyes scanned over her figure for any signs of injury.

Alice grinned at his concern, completely ignoring the warm sensation that enveloped her. "Of course, it was just some wind." She assured him with a smile and brushed herself off. She was fully capable of handling herself after all.

"Whoa, what was with that wind?" Usopp mumbled, adjusting the fit of his robes and shaking the sand off his hair.

"Someone's collapsed!" Nami shouted. Alice looked at the place Nami pointed at to see piece of fabric swaying. Luffy ran in the direction of it as the others followed.

"There are still people in this city!" Someone shouted hopefully, although Alice highly doubted it.

The rest of the group approached Luffy as he halted. Alice lowered her gaze to see what had gotten Smiles to freeze, only to see a human skull starting back at her. Vivi gasped as she lifted the skull. Alice shot the princess a sympathetic look as tears prickle Vivi's eyes. Alice gently took the skull from the princess' hands, examining it for herself. Without her glasses she could only distinguish so much. She had long since lost her contacts.

"Hmm, female, perhaps an adolescent... with a rather uneven jaw," Alice began to mumble to herself, unaware of the eyes on her or the sadness it caused Vivi. Alice further surveyed the skull, turning it around and gliding her hands over the fragile bone. "No direct trauma caused to the skull. Though, there is some postmortem trauma. Wouldn't be a stretch to assume she died from dehydrat-"

"Red?"

"Hm?" the red-head responded mindlessly. She blew a breath at the skull, wiping some of the dust off of it.

"Please, stop talking."

Alice glanced upwards about to tell off Ace for ruining her concentration, though, she then comprehended the downcast ambiance she had helped produce by her overly detailed observation of the skull. Her mouth parted and she released an awkward chuckle. She hesitantly placed the bone in Vivi's shaking hands. Alice murmured a sheepish apology to the princess before side stepping out of view.

"I mean, I did say those books on anthropology would come in handy some how," Alice whispered to Ace. Ace shook his head and bit his lip to suppress a laugh.

Making people uncomfortable. Alice's god-given talent. Sometimes, she didn't even need to speak to do it. Incredible, right?

"What did my father... what did the citizens of this country do?... These people have worked so hard to live, being natives of a desert land who are forced to fight with nature." Vivi's bangs cast a shadow over her eyes, and her shoulders shook with anger. "Yet he's destroyed their lives." Her voice began to shake as tears formed in her eyes. "What gives him the right?!"

"All the while, as one of the Seven Warlords, pretends to be a hero, no one realizes that he's deceiving the whole country!" Vivi cried, "I can't let him get away with this!"

The loud sound of cement breaking and a nearby house falling grabbed Alice's attention. Alice glanced around her to see that a certain black-haired captain, chef, and liar were no longer with the group.

"Geez, you're all such kids." Zoro commented, as Sanji, Usopp, and Luffy ambled tensely towards the group. Behind them laid the remains of rubble and dust.

"Vivi! Let's get moving! I'm itching to do this now!" Luffy cracked his shoulders, his eyes burned with determination and anger.

Alice laughed as she watched Luffy march away. She glanced at Vivi with a nod. "Let's go to Yuba."

"That's where the rebel army is, right?"

"Yes," Vivi sniffed as she stood up from her place on the ground. "I'm going to persuade their leader to stop the rebellion."

Zoro lifted a curious brow. "Persuade?"

"All of Alabasta's calamities are crocodiles doing! I'm going to tell him the truth and have him stop the pointless shedding of blood!" Vivi explained.

"Got it."

Thus, The Straw Hats resumed their journey to Yuba, all with a concrete goal in mind. They would join Vivi on her mission to stop Crocodile, and they would not stop until the kingdom of Alabasta returned to what it once was; a peaceful kingdom in the deserts.

― ❈ ―

**AUTHORS NOTE****:** hi, I'm back. This update was super short bc It was just finishing up the last chapter. Next chapter is one of my favorites a! (Its a flash-back! A filler if u will) Anyways, I love y'all and I'll see u next time! Stay safe and STAY HOME!

**PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS, THEY MOTIVATE ME TREMENDOUSLY! ❤️**


	12. C h a p t e r T e n

_― _❈_ ―_

_'An angry women is vindictive beyond measure, and hesitates at nothing in her bitterness.' _

_― _❈_ ―_

**Intermittent Petulant Disorder **

**Definition of I.P.D: **A disorder that disrupts the systematic functioning of emotions.

**Cause:** Heat exhaustion.

**Most vulnerable:** Alice.

**ALICE's** nose scrunched up as a sour grimace overtook her features. Her arm hairs recoiled under the fever of the sun - and as if manipulated with a congealed good, it appeared slicked down with sweat against her bronzed skin. The teen had long forgotten the dryness of both her lips and throat which had previously irked her to no end, for now, the suns vehemence had since penetrated her mind, sending her into a state of constant petulant.

I.P.D, a fictitious disorder Alice had created and diagnosed herself with. Often effected her most when she was sweltering or freezing. At that moment, she was the former - tenfold.

"Ehhh! Eh! Ehhh!"

Alice's eye twitched, her teeth grinding against each other. He had been panting and heaving for exactly an hour, Alice only knew that because every painstaking second she came closer and closer to truly contemplating murder.

"Ehhh! So. Hot."

Alice released a shaky breath, her sweaty palms curled into fists. Every muscle in her body tense, like an anxious cat.

"Waterrrr! I need water-"

Alice's eyes widened, her lilac irises burned with the intensity of the sun up above. "Luffy, I swear if you make another sound-!" Alice arms flew into the air wildly, her demeanor wild like a ravenous bear. "I will punch you so hard... **your DNA will rearrange and you'll become a goddamn dog!**" Alice seethed.

The buzzing sound of male cicadas rang throughout the Sandora Desert. The former two discordant voices abruptly halted, like the last note during the performance of an intense musical composition. The rest of the white noise bled through and kept dancing to the rhythm of Alice's uncharacteristic hostility.

The Straw Hats could only blink in bewilderment. The group not too casually shuffled away from Alice. The irritation that polluted her aura licked at their skin, and with only a taste of what Alice had bestowed upon Luffy they all simultaneously vowed one thing.

_ 'Never, will I get her mad.'_

Alice blinked a few times, gradually snapping out of her daze as the effects of I.P.D unlatched itself from her like Velcro. It was not until she heard a dramatic sniff that her eyes snapped upwards and met the deep, watery gaze of her wrath's victim.

It had been a while since Alice had felt such a rush of guilt filling her chest.

Luffy stood across from Alice, avoiding her gaze as he drew in the sand. A depressive and melancholy aura surrounded him as he released sniffs and poorly concealed sobs. Only the anger of Alice could have such a reaction on him. Where he would isolate himself and drown in self-pity, to the point where he would stop and contemplate even his most minuscule life decisions.

Should he have eaten eight rice balls instead of ten? Perhaps, he chewed too loud while they were eating? No - it had to be because she had caught him staring at her one too many times. Then again, there's was that one time when they were little and he has accidentally dropped and broke her Bunsen Burner. Luffy bit on his bottom lip as it trembled.

Just what did he do to deserve such vexation placed upon him?

A low whistle emitted from Ace's lips as he shook his head - almost theatrically - and placed his elbow on Alice's head. "You sure did it now, Alice."

Alice sighed, her shoulders dropping. "I know, I know," she murmured, "give me a second to fix him." Alice released a breath, placing her hands in the pockets stitched into her robes as she strode confidently to Luffy's moping figure. Though, on her way she did not miss the way Luffy's comrade's had instantly avoided her gaze, looking at any and everything but her.

"Wah, Chopper, do you see that grain of sand right there?" Usopp spoke with fake awe, his voice entirely void of any inkling that he truly cared for the unique grain of sand.

Alice rolled her eyes.

To be entirely truthful, Alice was truly a patient person. It was a virtue required in the field of science and engineering. In no world would someone be able to snap their fingers and simply create a life altering mechanical object. There was always a process, one that took awfully long.

Alice knew Luffy almost her entire life, she had become accustomed to his behavior, his quirks and his ever rambunctious personality. She loved him through and through, and accepted parts of himself others were reluctant to even get to know. Alice could confidently say she knew the boy better than he knew himself.

It was because of this, long ago, Alice diagnose herself with the make belief disorder, I.P.D. Never would Alice insult or sneer at anyone she loved. At least, with the intent of hurting their feelings. She would be a hypocrite if she preached acceptance, yet ostracized others for something they could not control.

So, yes, Monkey D Luffy could be an annoying, idiotic boy with a tendency to annoy those around him, but, Alice wouldn't have it any other way.

Alice gently kicked Luffy with her leg. "Oi, Smiles," said Alice, an exasperated look painted her face as the boy crossed his arms over his chest, pouted, and ignored her presence entirely.

Alice sighed and ruffled her locks. One thing Alice, Luffy, and Ace shared was their overwhelming stubbornness. It was as if she were gazing through a mirror while continuing to nudge her foot into Luffy's side.

Soon, as Luffy's side had reddened and the sun's heat bit into his skin for long enough, the boy threw a glare at Alice. Alice halted her annoying antics. "What do you want?..." The boy mumbled angrily.

_ 'A child, a seventeen year old child,' _Alice mentally smirked with amusement, '_then again, who am I to talk?'_ Alice crouched to Luffy's level, placing her hands on her knees and offered the boy a look that Alice had perfectly crafted over the years. A gaze so mesmerizing even the strongest of minds would falter against.

Alice's renowned puppy dog look.

"Smiles," Alice cooed, titling her head to the side and offering a meek smile. Luffy stiffened. "I'm so..." Alice swallowed the saliva in her throat. When was the last time she had given an apology? The words tasted so foreign. Never would she have done anything like this for someone out of her inner circle. She could only hope that Luffy's crew were not too close to hear her. "Sorry for lashing out at you like that. You know I would never say something so harsh under normal circumstances. What can I do to make up for it?" Alice batted her eyelashes sweetly.

Make up for it? Alice would do something for him? "You would do... what ever I wanted?" The boy asked, his interest showed in his tone. Alice thought for a moment, sighed, then shrugged with a 'to hell with it' expression and nodded. Luffy grinned internally, a mischievous twinkle sparkled in his eyes as he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

Ace watched the scene transpiring a sand dune away from him with knitted brows and an unconsciously fixed jaw. He had heard Alice. The words which she had spoken in a voice not too hushed for him to eaves drop on. Flabbergasted would be a way to describe his current emotion, though, annoyance had begun to overturn that feeling rather quickly as Alice furthered her apology. Ace mentally scoffed. Alice didn't apologize - at least not genuinely - she never did. Not to him, not even to Whitebeard no matter the tactics he used to force some manners into her. It wasn't a matter of pride, she had explained to Ace once, more so that Alice was fully aware of her action's and the differing reactions because of them from other people.

Alice simply didn't care. Perhaps it was because of her erratic lack of empathy towards some stranger's or her lack of energy to deal with the consequences.

Only Alice would know.

Ace had noticed the difference that Alice treated Luffy with a long time ago. Unless the situation was dire, Alice, not once, in Ace's presence, berated Luffy. She had never laid a finger on him, she had never undermined him, nor has she ever insulted his character.

She treated Luffy with a care she didn't display onto anybody else, not even to her partner in crime, Ace.

Ace tuned out of the duo's conversation, casting his attention to the landscape that appeared to stretch to the ends of the earth. Perhaps if he stared long enough it would dull the longing ache in his chest.

"BAKA! Like hell I would do that for you!"

THUD!

The group of hikers could only sweatdrop at the scene.

Luffy laid in the sand, his eyes spinning as a throbbing bump, the size of his face, grew on his head. Alice fist steamed and her eye twitched.

Ace couldn't help but snort at his two closets friends.

'I _spoke too soon.'_

Alice glanced back at her newly acquainted friends, chuckling with a closed eye smile. "Kid's these days, huh? Sometimes the only way to get through to them is to... well... beat it into them." Alice's empty laugh rang into the air.

The Straw Hat's deadpanned. _'You're only two years apart...'_ they chorused with a dismissive wave of their hand.

Luffy bounced to his feet, his fingers clenched into fists as he shouted at Alice with defiance. "I'm never ever going to forgive you then! " The boy stuck his nose into the air, his demeanor polluted with smugness. Alice remained silent, her lips turning into a frown. A beat of silence passed, both parties set on their choices. Luffy peeked at Alice, hoping that perhaps his words would shatter a bit of her walls and make her comply to his wishes.

It did not.

Luffy narrowed his dark eyes. "Never, ever, eve-"

Alice eye twitched. A sense of deja vu overcame her and she suddenly felt hot, both internally and externally.

The poor captain did not even get to finish his sentence when a fierce slap to the back of his head propelled his body into the sand in a blink of an eye.

The Straw Hats and Vivi watched the two family members with expressions ranging from guilt, empathy, and unconcerned. It was like a show, Tom and Jerry, less intense of course and very one sided. Guess who was who.

"How many points do you think that was, Zoro?" Usopp asked the doctor beside him. The pirates had since begun to rate Alice's punches and hits.

"At least a six. Maybe if she swung further back it could have been a seven."

The Straw Hats nodded in agreement.

After a few deep breaths, Alice flipped the boy over with her foot, and sighed at his pitiful expression. Steam emitted from his ears, as his eyes swirled with confusion. Luffy emitted a moan of pain. Alice crossed her hand's and ruffled her hair.

_ "I'm never ever going to forgive you then!"_

His words played in her head like a broken record. She knew he was being dramatic to get her to comply to his request, Luffy couldn't ignore Alice even if he tried, and he had once before. He only lasted three minutes. Though, the fact that there was even a slight possibility that his words might be true irked Alice to no end.

Now that she thought about it, his request was not so bad. Initially, Alice only said know because of how foreign it was too her. _'I mean, its completely harmless. Some even pray to do it - not that I understand why.'_ Alice thought.

"Fine," Alice mumbled, looking down at the boy.

Luffy blinked, sitting upwards as the pain magically vanished. "Huh?" He asked dumbly.

"...Fine. I'll do it." Alice lifted her brows and gave the boy a pointed look, hoping what she meant transpired in her expression.

Luffy's expression brighten, Alice almost grimaced at his shining smile. His eye widened considerably, a gleeful blush painted his cheeks. The warmth of his aura washed over Alice, instantly uplifted her mood. A smile pulled at her lips as she resisted the urge to embrace the boy and keep his warmth all to herself.

"REALLY?" Luffy shouted with happiness. He knew it was a long shot, and he only had asked because it was the only thing he wanted from Alice, besides, of course, her hand in marriage. Given Alice said she would do whatever she wanted for him, it was a no brainier in his mind to request _that_ one thing.

Alice picked the inside of her ear with her pinky finger. Her expression was neutral as she pulled out some earwax and blew it off her finger. Was it really that big of a deal? "Sure, why no-?" Alice's eyes became enlarged as she found herself on the desert ground with a great weight pulling her downwards.

"Yatta!" Luffy cheered on top of her with a closed eye smile, rubbing his cheek against hers.

Alice pulled at every part of Luffy's body with a slightly vexed expression. "Oi, its too hot for hugs!"

Eventually, after a few kicks and pulls Alice could breathe, finally out of the boy's embrace.

Luffy stood with his hands on his side as he shouted out towards his friends. As if he had not nearly suffocated Alice with his oozing enthusiasm a moment ago. The boy's grip was like steel.

Luffy waved into the air, beckoning his friends forward. "Guys! Come on, we've gotta get to Nooba!" He shouted, beginning his trek through the desert while his crew mates began to follow their captain.

Alice grinned to herself.

"It's Yuba, Smiles. Say it with me, Y-u-ba.

"

_― _❈_ ―_

The sun faded into the horizon as nightfall seized the sky. The stars that hid behind the azure firmament throughout the day now illuminating the midnight sky. A cloud of exhaustion shadowed the group of rookie pirates as they scouted the terrain for a decent area to land their camp for the night. The heavenly bodies, all their own unique sizes and hues twinkled behind the moon as it glowed at its first quarter. The Straw Hats were entranced by the celestial body, as it was the only source of natural light in the deserts starry sky.

The smell of burnt wood filled the air. Once the Straw Hats noticed the temperature drop they found a place behind rocks to set their base up. The members gathered around a fire, hungry and cold as Sanji slowly roasted the meat he had brought with him over the blaze.

"So hungry..." Luffy moaned, he watched a piece of meat sizzle over the fire intensely. The orange flames burst from the coal underneath the makeshift barbecue, fluttering with excitement as the tendrils burned layers of the beef dripping with exquisite sauces that gleamed against the meat.

His stomach grumbled at the sight. As the boy glanced around him in hopes that not looking at the food would ease at least some of his hunger, Luffy's eyes caught a glimpse of a piece of meat behind Sanji. His eyes burned with an undeniable hunger that consumed him whenever faced with the sight of meat. His mouth watered at the sight, he hesitated for a moment, stealing a glance at his blonde subordinate. He released a breath and waited a moment before he succumbed to his starvation. He couldn't resist any longer. Luffy even surprised himself that he lasted so long.

The boy slithered his tan arms and grabbed the piece of raw meat. However, Sanji turned in time to see Luffy bringing the piece of meat to his mouth.

"Don't be so greedy! It's still raw! Don't eat that!" Sanji snatched the meat from Luffy's hand. Luffy whimpered as he rubbed his stomach. "Nami-san, just a minute and it will be ready soon!" Nami nodded absentmindedly and inched closer to the fire, snuggling into the blanket she put over her shoulders.

Whilst begging the flame to exude more heat to warm up her entire body, Nami gazed around the camp. She spotted Zoro not too far away, in his own trance as he meditated with his swords still on his side - typical, Nami thought. Usopp and Chopper had found themselves in a heated card game as they sat on a blanket. One or the other released laughs of triumph or moans of dismay every once in a while. Nami glanced down to her side, a small fond smile plastered on her face as Vivi peacefully read a novel she had borrowed from Alice. If Vivi could find some solace in her book Nami was happy. The princess deserved a little break from the constant detriments adding to the state of the country she loved so much.

Speaking of Alice, Nami squinted her eyes, surveying the group for familiar locks of red hair. Though, unlike what she guessed the girl wasn't beside her partner in crime. Ace leaned against a rock, his arm resting on his propped up knee as he stared at the fire, deep in thought. For a second Nami wondered what had his mind so preoccupied. "Say," Nami drew out, catching the attention of her travel group. "Where's Alice?" She questioned, slight concern lingering in her words.

Usopp blinked, then realized that it had been awfully quiet. After getting familiar with Red's behavior he would assume the girl would be pulling a few nighttime pranks. "Oh, where'd she go?" The boy glanced around him, though, blackness encompassed the land. "Sis-in-law?!" The boy shouted the nickname he hadn't stopped calling her all day, into the desert. Usopp was still awed at the fact that Alice didn't put him in a grave the first time he called her it. She must be gradually warming up to him, as he was her.

"There!" Chopper pointed to a rock not too far from them that Alice was leaning against.

Nami stood up with wide eyes, her blanket falling off her shoulders. "Ehh! What's she doing over there? Is she not freezing?!"

"Geez," Ace sighed as he got up. He mentally scolded the girl who he would be sure to verbally voice his annoyance too in a few moments. "Same thing every night wherever we go." He mumbled. "Don't you all, I'll go get her." Ace knew as long as the stars were out and nobody disrupted her, Alice would skip dinner and stay awake all night. The teenage girl wasn't keen on sleeping after all.

She claimed she would have sufficient time to sleep when she died.

The members shoulders appeared to fall with relief as Ace grabbed a blanket and turned to the fire before looking at Sanji. "These ready?" He pointed to the kebab sticks that rested golden brown on the cooking cast. Sanji surveyed the meat then nodded, and for a split-second he was concerned as Ace reached for the searing metal that stuck the pieces of meat together, before he remembered the man was fire immune.

"Alice is still stargazing? She hasn't changed a bit." Luffy laughed, reaching for another stick of food. As soon as Sanji deemed the food cooked Luffy had consumed six kebab sticks and at the very least three pounds worth of meat.

The usual.

"Stargazing?"

Luffy nodded, grinning at the mere thought of his soon to be bride. "Yeah, Alice likes stars and comunit stuff. She's a scientist." Luffy informed his crew, biting a piece of meat off the stick. He hummed when the meat melted onto his tongue.

Ace released a chuckle at his mispronunciation of 'comet'.

"Never would have guessed that..." Zoro spoke up. He wouldn't have thought the red-head had the occupation of something so... mentally taxing. Then again, Zoro didn't know Alice well enough to fully understand her. She was odd, Zoro knew that much. She put herself out as someone who wouldn't enjoy something like science or school in general, like a delinquent.

"Alice is a renowned scientist. Some even say she's the next Vegapunk," Chopper explained to his moss haired friend, voice coated with admiration.

The reindeer initially had not put the pieces together when he first encountered the red-haired girl. When it came to the famed Bloody Alice, there was next to nothing that the public knew about her. Just recently the World Government had gotten her picture for her wanted picture despite Alice sailing for almost two and half years. She was faceless name, only having her accolades as proof for her genius. The world knew of her, but no one truly _knows_ Alice.

Usopp released a impressed whistle, he looked in the direction of his captain. Luffy sat by the fire, stomach expanded to its largest capacity. His one finger dug into his nose, as if there were a pot of gold hidden inside his nostril as his other hand rubbed on his bloated stomach. Usopp deadpanned. "Who would have thought our captain was best friends with someone so significant."

Luffy, having heard the snipers words, pulled his finger out of his nose and pointed it accusingly at the tanned teen. "Oi, what's that s'pposed to mean?!" His chubby cheeks bounced as Luffy shouted out, a booming belch escaped him at the end of his sentence.

Ace left the group of pirates and headed in the red-head direction, the distant voices of two teenage boys arguing gradually becoming faint.

_― _❈_ ―_

_**AUTHORS NOTE: **_

_this chapter is not my best. sorry lol. thank you all for the reviews and constructive criticism. i truly, with all my heart, appreciate it. 3_


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